Undeniable bonds
by MetalicIgneel
Summary: Lucys knew the only way to save Natsu and her guild family was to agree to marrying the enemy, losing herself was a much better option than living life knowing they were gone. There had been something wrong with Natsu for sometime, and when he realized the marriage was a lie, the thought of loosing her sent him in a spiral of darkness that would consume him to the core.
1. Chapter 1

**As promised, I rewrote this chapter. The simple explanation to this is: before writing this I had never read or written fanfic and had an incorrect idea on how it was supposed to be, therefore now I that know a little more about it, I decided to make some additions. Which doesn't mean this is going to be perfect, apparently rewriting without changing the idea is more complicated that what I anticipated -_-…**

 **Feedback is still well received! Please read and review, and let me know if there are some pointers or things you would like to see.**

 _ **Remember Italic usually means internal dialogue or Flashbacks**_

 _ **-A-**_

* * *

It was a normal day in the guild, or as normal as it could be; the request board was filled, and more than a few mages were already surrounding it, thinking about their next mission. As usual, it was all but a quiet place, a few tables were flying around, different mages daring each other to ridiculous competitions, and more than a couple of punches were being delivered left and right.

Gray had already removed his shirt when a redhead beauty with a strong temper shout at him; "Gray your clothes!" Her strong voice resonated wall to wall causing Gray to flinch. "This is getting out of control! You need punishment!"

"Dammit! When did this happen?" obviously his intention was to put his shirt back on, however, this proved to be more difficult than what he initially thought.

"I said put your clothes on! Didn't say to take more off!"

"WHAT! DAMMIT!"

The guild was filled with its every day noises, it was weird how you could feel so at home in such a rowdy place. It was the beginning of September, and the weather was perfect; a breeze covered the town with the sweet scent of the forest.

Cana was sitting at her usual table observing as Erza scolded Gray for his inappropriate stripping habit, and trying to contain her laughter. Seeing Gray shiver under Erza's commanding hand always made her laugh.

She looked around her family, the one she decided to join after her mother died. Cana arrived at the guild at a young age looking for her father, but eventually decided to stay; she used Holder Magic mostly based on her magic cards, which she always kept with her along with a huge barrel of booze.

Everyone believed she was hardheaded and careless since she had a common habit of drinking, and flirting; little did everyone know that she was also one of the most observant members of the guild, whether the information she obtained was used to tease her friends or for other purposes depended on the type of information. She could always tell when the winds were changing for her guild family, and today she sensed the September breeze would bring more than a few surprises.

A noise from the front door caught her attention causing her to peek through the narrow semi-open space. What she saw immediately spiked her interest. It was not uncommon to see guild members fighting each other, but this was not like any of the regular brawls; this seemed more as a personal argument, and fists were not involved for once.

She recognize the pink haired mage frowning at someone whom she was not able to see through the small space; she saw a pale small hand reaching out to coup his cheek, and him slapping it away; it was obvious that he had startled himself by doing so, since he took a step back.

He put himself together and slammed the door open, storming into the guild; He had fie in his eyes and directed his step to the request board, he grabbed the first piece of paper he could catch, and as quickly as he came in, he was gone.

He stump his way out of the guild ignoring his friends voices, and went through the door slamming it again, making his way out of the guild with the same anger and determination as before, which revealed the victim of his tantrum. Cana could clearly see Lucy covering her mouth with her right hand and holding her arm with her left; this was an uncommon event. While Natsu could be dense, and somewhat insensitive, everyone knew he protected Lucy with his life; the mere thought of him being the reason of Lucy's tears rubbed Cana in the wrong way.

Cana felt the urge to go outside to comfort Lucy, but decided that right now she probably needed the space and didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She was also worried about Natsu; she had seen fire in his eyes before every fight, but not like the one she had seen for the past few weeks; it seems the fire grew a bit darker every time. She remembered asking him about it, and getting no particular answer.

 _-Flashback-_

" _Are you gonna tell me what's been bothering you?"_

" _Nothing's bothering me; anyways, if it was why would I tell_ _ **you?"**_

" _Hey! That was hard…"_

" _Ugh… I'm sorry Cana. It's just…"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _It's nothing… ok? I just… I've been having trouble sleeping, that's all"_

" _You? Come on, I've seen you sleep over a rock, and underneath a table"_

 _He laughed a bit at her comment, then, he flashed his huge grin at her. She saw the dark fire on his eyes evaporate into nothing "Yeah, you are right. It's nothing, I promise. Why are you so worried all of the sudden? Do I need to make Mira cut you off?"_

" _Try to take my booze away Natsu… see what happens…"_

 _He raised his hands in defeat "Woo… Relax. Man… you can't take a joke"_

* * *

Lucy's POV

"Could you please keep it down?! Not everyone needs to know how ridiculous you're being about this"

"What…I'm being ridiculous? Great! So you don't care about the fact I'm asking you not to go? You haven't seen this guy for years Luce! What do you even know about him?"

"What is it to you anyways? I can go wherever I want, whenever I want and I don't need you to come with me"

He felt the fire accumulating on the pit of this stomach "Oh you don't! Well apparently that doesn't apply whenever you need to pay rent, does it?!"

"Are you being serious right now? Most of the missions we go to leave less money because of your wreckage! You could at least learn some self-control!"

"Look we ain't having this argument Luce. I don't like him, so, if you go, I'm going with you, and that's final. Last time I checked I didn't need your permission to go wherever I wanted to go either"

"Come on! You are being a child! You don't like him? You don't even know him! For once in your life could you act like an adult? GEEZ! Just leave me alone for once! It will probably serve me well to have vacations from you!"

Natsu's face harden and his eyes moved to the door; the anger inside him was pilling up without him fully understanding why. He was aware that the fire in the pit of his stomach was becoming dangerously hot, and was trying his best to control it, however, controlling his mouth was a different issue "I know what you talk about with him; I know you talk about me. Is that really how you see me?"

"Wait now you are listening to my personal conversations? How about some privacy Natsu?"

"Ha! You can't fool a Dragon Slayer's senses, or maybe it's because I'm…wait how did you call it?… oh yeah "an incontrollable mess that needs a leash, incapable of committing to something and so dense that couldn't see the truth even if it slap me on the face" or something like that…"

Lucy's eyes widen in panic, she recognized those words as her own and had regretted them the moment they left her mouth. This had happened no more than a week before, when they had to relinquish all their reward to cover a few collapsed buildings. She raised her hand to cup his cheek "Natsu, I'm..." the sudden slap on her hand threw her off; while she had received her fair share of beating as a consequences of Natsu's brawls with others, this was the only time he had purposely laid a hand on her in an aggravated way.

She stood frozen in the same place rubbing her hand, as she watch him storm inside the guild, only to come back no more than a minute later with a paper on his hand. Without looking at her he walked passed her and just mumbled, "Do whatever the fuck you want, I don't give a shit"

Lucy couldn't hold the tears once he left, she rested her forehead on the wall trying hard not to surrender to the sadness; after a few minutes, she put her hair behind her ears and took a deep breath. She couldn't let the rest see her like that, so, she cleaned the tears from her face and walked as calmly as she could into the guild, no one seemed to notice what had happened, and for once she was happy the guild was such a noisy place.

Not long after, Happy flew inside the guild with a very sad face, landing on her breasts as usual.

"Lucy!" There were tears running down his small blue face and sticking to his whiskers.

"What's wrong buddy?"

"Natsu didn't want to take me with him! He was so mean!"

"Oh Happy, I'm sure he'll get over himself soon. Did he say something to you?" She really wanted to believe he would get over it quickly, and give her an opportunity to explain.

"He…he said he preferred to be alone for this one. He told me I couldn't come" Lucy tried to smile hiding her own sadness and padded Happy to make him feel better, although petting his fur was more of a comfort to her.

"So I guess it will just be you and me?"

"Well that sucks…"

"HEY!"

"I'm sorry! It's just not the same without Natsu!"

"I know buddy… How about I buy you all the fish you want? We can even go fishing! How about that? Lucy knew how to draw a smile in the small cat's face. She knew it wouldn't distract him for long but it would serve as a temporary solution.

"YEAHH! I have my fishing gear ready at home! When do you want to go?"

"Well, we could go now"

"Ok but first I need to get some lunch!"

"Amm… Happy aren't we fishing our lunch?"

"But Lucy! I need energy to fish! You are so dumb… You can't fish on an empty stomach"

Lucy rolled her eyes but decided to play along; after all, she wanted him to stop thinking about Natsu, at least for now.

"Fine, fine" she waved her hand disregarding her annoyance "Mira! Could you please give the Fish addict something to eat? And can I have a strawberry milkshake?"

"Coming right up Lucy!"

A few minutes had passed; Happy was enjoying his third Fish at Lucy's expense, while she was playing with the straw from her almost untouched milkshake. She was trying so hard to let things be, but found herself incapable of holding her tongue. She attempted to ask in a nonchalant way, but was of course very unsuccessful.

"So…" She laid her elbows on the bar and rested her face on her hands "Did your annoying friend mentioned how long he would be away?" Happy looked at her with disappointment not knowing how to answer her question and shook his head.

Of course, Mira joined the conversation; that woman had always had an ability to pop in at the right time. Lucy commonly teased her about her gossiping and matchmaking obsession, but she knew if Mira ever wanted to blackmail someone at the guild, they would all be in trouble "Well Natsu being Natsu will probably not be away for long, but the only one missing from the board is a three month gig"

Their jaws landed on the table causing a thud "WHAAAAAAT?! He can't possibly be away for that long! What is wrong in that stupid pink head of his?!" Lucy was feeling upset, but also guilty. She had never been without him for such a long time, and although she was mad at him, she was aware it hadn't been all his fault. - _Well then I guess that's that, there's no clearer answer for me now…-_

At the end, Happy was too full to go fishing, which of course Lucy had warned him about, but it didn't matter, she had succeeded in taking his mind away from his best friend who had left him behind.

Lucy went home to continue working on her novel, she took a long bath, and she cried a bit more before going to bed. Hours later, she was awaken when she felt something slam against her face "What the hell!?"

"Lushy! Wake up!"

"Stupid cat! Why do you keep breaking in!?"

"Luuuuushy you are being mean! You said we could go fishing!"

"Like… now?..."

"Yeah…now"

She reluctantly got off bed almost growling, and changed her pajamas for a pair of blue shorts and a tank top. She had never been a huge fan of fishing despite of joining Natsu and Happy several times, and most times she went only for their company.

After walking for some time, they got to their usual fishing spot and sat down; it didn't take long for Happy to break the silence that had settled between them.

"Do you think he is angry at me Lucy?"

"Oh come on! Why would he be angry at you?"

"Well, I stole his food the other day, maybe he doesn't want me to live with him anymore"

"Listen! He is not angry at you and he would never kick you out, you silly cat!"

"Are you sure? He's been acting weird lately…"

"Weird how?"

"Well, I'm not sure how to explain… Like the little things that annoyed him now upset him, ya know? I thought he was impatient, but now…"

"Yeah…"

"Also he keeps waking up in the middle of the night, sometimes screaming, and goes outside for hours!"

"Where does he go?"

"Not sure…"

"Well… he is being weird"

"You are being weird… but then again you are always weird Lushy…" Happy covered his mouth with his paw trying to hide his laughter without much luck, before Lucy put her hand in the water and soaked him with a swift move.

The days went by slowly and painfully for both of them; every time the guild door opened, they would turn with hope just to see it was somebody else.

Of all the people Lucy had ever met, Natsu was the one that had never disappointer her; he acted like a child most of the time, and she had unofficially taken the responsibility of "babysitting" him, however, she had never felt disappointment when talking about him; this particular emotion was something she knew well thanks to her father.

She thought that after all the times Jude had put his work before his family, the Phantom Lord incident, and him trying to marry her into another wealthy family… disappointment would be something she would be able to disregard easily, as it turns out, she would soon realize how wrong she was.

After three weeks, it was evident he wasn't coming back any time soon. More than a few members of the guild had started discussing how weird it was that he hadn't taken Lucy, but they were even more shocked by the fact that Happy was left behind; since Happy hatched they couldn't think of a time in which those two were separated for more than a couple of days.

Cana was bored and more than a bit drunk after an intense drinking competition with the Master when she approached a sad looking Lucy at the bar.

"Hey Blondie! So when is that douchebag partner of yours gonna be back?" she could tell right away she had stroke a cord there when Lucy's eyes watered, and that kind of made her sober up a bit.

"Hey Luce, I'm sorry, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Cana…"

"That I'm fine sounds as fake as me saying I'll stop drinking tomorrow… Look, I didn't want to say anything; I noticed you too had been fighting a bit lately, what happened?"

"I just, I think I pushed the wrong button this time Cana, he was right to be mad, I just didn't think he would be **this** mad you know?"

Cana nodded but was still clueless about what had happened, she didn't want to push her into a conversation she wasn't ready to have "I'm sure he will have a clear mind once he comes back Luce, don't worry too much" Lucy gave her a "debutant" smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I'm going home now to work on my novel; we'll talk later ok?"

"Sure thing… Hey Lucy, I'm here if you need me ok?"

"Thanks…" Lucy grabbed her bag and walked out of the guild leaving Cana with a bad feeling; she knew something was not right, but was incapable of pinpointing it. Gajeel sat down next to Cana drinking a large beer and simply asked, "So you want to know what happened between Salamander and Blondie here?"

"Well well, who would have thought you were one to gossip… I though you like to keep away from people's businesses Gajeel"

"I do, but the day is incredibly boring and I could have a few FREE beers Cana"

Cana smiled and yelled quickly "Mira can we have two beers? And please keep them coming!"

Mira nodded politely handing them their two beers before returning to her conversation with Laxus.

Gajeel took a big drink before starting the conversation "Why do you care what's happening between them anyways? I'm sure they'll patch things up as soon as he comes back"

"I'm not sure why… it just seems odd, you know?"

"Well, I could only hear part of it; after all I don't pay much attention to those weirdos. I know he was pretty angry at her for talking to someone about him, he probably overreacted, but it ain't his fault either; honestly he is going through a hard stage right now"

Cana looked a bit more confused now, and stayed quiet to let him continue…

Gajeel sighed, "It's not the fight that is the real problem, all Dragons go through this incontrollable stage, basically like every other teenager you know but with a Dragon nature, the instincts get sharper and more often take the best of you"

"How so?"

"Hmm I guess you get more protective of your space, you start noticing more things, and of course your senses go in overdrive"

"Is that why he got all weird around her?"

"Not sure; I don't know the details, but she wanted to go back home and see this guy friend; and Salamander basically forbade her to, so things didn't go smoothly there"

Cana's confused face was even more noticeable know, Lucy had mentioned it was her fault but this sounded like Natsu acting like a dick "ok let's back off a little here, what do you mean with incontrollable dragon teenager, you Iron moron? Do we need to be worried about him? He is incontrollable already, so if it gets worse than now we may have to start saving to reconstruct the guild for the millionth time"

Gajeel laughed loudly, "Oh it gets worse…oh man you don't know half of it Drunkard. At least I'm glad I went through it way before I came here, you guys wouldn't let me forget about it"

"So… you mean this is the "more relaxed" version of you?"

"Of course, by the time I came here I was already very much in control of it"

The thought of Gajeel being worse than what he was now crossed Cana's mind and sent shivers down her spine _–How much worse can he get?-_ "Ok so just to be clear… when you were in Phantom and destroyed our guild… were you…?"

"Oh nah, that was even before that"

"Seriously… what did you do?"

Gajeel smirked at her jokingly "There's not enough beer in this town for me to tell you Cana… wouldn't want to damage the good rep I've accumulated during my time here. I'm just going to say this will be fun to watch"

* * *

Lucy sat on her desk trying to write, but she was still bumped about the whole situation; it was hard enough to concentrate without the constant image of Natsu popping in her mind every 5 minutes.

Phone rings…

"Hey Lulu! So have you thought about it? Please say you'll visit? I can't wait to see you!"

She recognized the voice right away; Fukuro was someone she had recently reconnected with, and she had fond memories from their childhood together. His and Lucy's parents would usually do business together which left the kids plenty of time to roam around the properties and play; she remembered him as a sweet boy with a shy smile. Lucy being as high temper as she was, would usually push him around to different adventures knowing the scared little boy would never refuse her; he was all grown up and doing most of the pushing now.

"Hey… Fuku-kun, I'm not sure yet, my partner took a long mission and I…"

A very annoyed Fukuro cut Lucy off, "Lu!, come on! You can't seriously wait for that good for nothing to come back; you said yourself he acts like a child and keeps being confusing about everything, why on earth would you prefer to wait?"

"I know what I said, but he is not like that! He is extremely loyal, and protective, and he is so… I mean…"

"Lulu do you have feelings for him?"

"What? No of course I don't!"

"Then why are you so worried about him? He's been gone for weeks now! Is not like he cared about hurting you when he left did he?"

"I guess you are right… (blushed), but he is my guild partner and my best friend!"

"Fine, so if he is really your best friend, that won't change right? So what damage could a short trip do?"

Lucy let the words get in her head and ignored the nod building in the pit of her stomach. She was mad at herself, but also mad at his childish behavior, and decided staying would only reaffirm the wrong behavior on her best friend.

"Fine, I'll see you soon then"

"Oh Lulu! You won't regret this! I can't wait to see you again; I've missed you so much"

"I've missed you too…"

With newfound determination, Lucy decided to pack a few bags; she wasn't planning for the trip to be long anyways. She was folding her clothes when she was invaded by the feeling that she was forgetting something.

"Hmmm… ok… Toothbrush, hairbrush, underwear, shorts, skirt, pants, blouses… Gee.. I may be packing too much…" She switched her weight and bit her thumb thinking what could she be missing when the image of the small blue cat came to her mind "Shit!..." She didn't want to leave Happy by himself.

Happy hadn't taken his friend's departure well, Lucy and the rest of the guild tried hard to keep him company, and distract him as much as possible, but it was just not the same without Natsu. Things had gotten so bad that even Carla threw away her snob behavior to keep him company in activities she usually deemed childish and worthless, the bigger surprise was that she didn't complain a bit about them.

As if being summoned, the feline flew inside her apartment. "Hey Lucy, what's for dinner?"

"Silly, you know I have fresh fish for you today, just as yesterday, and the day before"

"Aye! You are the best!"

Happy settled on the table to wait for his food patiently (not…) "Stop tapping your little paw on the table! I'm coming!"

"But you are so slow!"

"Do you want to go to bed with an empty stomach?"

"You are so mean Lucy!" the blonde giggled before placing his plate on the table. "there, there… so, what did you do today?"

"Not much… The guild is boring without Natsu"

"I wouldn't call it boring, maybe… less noisy? They sure fight less"

"Uhm, Lucy you are so dumb! That's exactly why it's boring… even Gray is bored…"

"Oh really? Why do you say that?"

"He tried to pick a fight with some of the guys today"

"Hmm, how did that end up?"

Happy tried to cover his smile with his tiny paw "Well the guys mostly ignored him, so then he thought it would be a good idea to pick a fight with Erza…"

"Oh poor Gray… so boredom did get the best of him"

"Aye… may he rest in peace" Lucy immediately frown "Oh Happy don't say that!" The cat smiled again "Hey! How about we take a short vacation before Natsu comes back?"

"I don't know… what if he comes back while we are gone?"

Her own concern filtered through her mind as she recognized the thought, but that went away quickly once her determination kicked back in "Well Happy, he didn't think much about us when he left did he?"

"I… I want to stay"

"You can stay if you prefer but I'm leaving in the morning. I don't want you to stay alone, what about you stay with Wendy and Carla?"

A smile immediately appeared on his face, Lucy knew he would take any opportunity to be around the white cat, and now that she was trying to be nicer to him, it was the perfect opportunity.

"Aye!"

It was settled, the next day she would be back home to visit. She knew the house she grew up in wasn't hers anymore, it had been taken over along with her father's company, but she still was excited about going back and seeing it from the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

**YO! As promised, 2nd Chapter has been edited! I've used some of my time re-watching Fairy Tail so I apologize lol… Also some time has gone to reading fanfics some disappointing… some are still going and I'm currently suffering in the wait for more chapters *Cries in a corner* if you've read my very ambiguous profile you know by now I have issues with stuff lacking closure (stupid obsessive personality XD)**

 **As always Feedback is appreciated, so far all feedback was been polite, thanks to everyone!** **Hope you enjoy the edited version.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.**

 **-Dante Alighieri-**

* * *

Light filtered inside her apartment causing her to wake up, she stretched in her bed and yawned. It had been weeks since Natsu left and even if she hated to admit it, she missed kicking him out of bed, and yelling at him for sneaking into her house. The warmth of her bed wasn't the same without her personal heater.

She took a few minutes to find the determination she had the day before, but she sat up in bed and continued with her morning routine; after a long bath, she inspected her bag to make sure nothing was missing.

It wasn't long before she heard movement on her window, her heart skipped a bit before the blue cat's voice brought her back to reality. Apparently, wishful thinking was enough to make the pink-haired mage appear out of nowhere.

"Hey Lushi!"

"Happy! I though you would be at Wendy's already"

"I wanted to see you off" The blue exceed smiled lovingly "Liar… you want breakfast! I can hear your stomach growl all the way over here" Happy covered his mouth and laughed "Well that too! But I do want to go with you to the train station!"

Lucy couldn't help but smile, he was small and annoying, he loved teasing her, but after all, he was also one of her best friends "Fine! Breakfast then!"

Lucy prepared some toast and tea for her and grabbed some food for Happy. They sat at the table enjoying each other's company for a while before Lucy had to go. As promised, Happy walked with her to the station, although it wasn't so much walking as lying on her chest and snuggling.

They were finally at the train station and Happy looked a bit bumped "Hey, what's wrong with you buddy?"

"You are leaving me too!" the cat cried in a childish way and pouted.

"Now, now… I asked you to come with me, but you preferred to stay with Carla… because" Lucy imitating the annoying voice Happy used when teasing her "You looooove her!"

"Not Funny! You don't know how complicated a woman's heart is Lucy" he crossed his arms above his chest, and snorted in annoyance.

"Happy… I am a woman…" Happy covered his mouth to laugh "If you say so…" he flew away not before Lucy grabbed him by the tail and squeezed him "Say that to my face, you stupid cat!" She wanted to be mad at him but for some reason she laughed too, and then she hugged him tightly.

"I'll let you know once I'm there ok? I'm not leaving you! I'll come back soon, and then we can go fishing, hell, we'll even convince Wendy and Carla to join us ok?"

"Do you promise?!" She hugged him again against her chest "I promise!"

Lucy boarded her train back to her old town; it had been long since she was there, and now with both her mother and father gone, she didn't think she had a reason to visit. For the hours ahead, she doubted herself more than once – _Am I doing the right thing?-_ She was definitely still angry at him, but she was also angry at herself; she was aware that both of them had acted wrong.

Over the past few weeks she had noticed some weird behavior from her friend; he flinched at the sound of her voice, some days more than others; other days he was acting "normal" and suddenly his attitude would switch. One particular episode that came to mind; she was eating breakfast, and Natsu took a piece of bacon from her plate, as usual; she had basically jumped on her feet and launched at him, but once she was able to wrap her arms around his neck from behind, he had thrown the food back on her plate and apologized. _–What's wrong with him…-_

While lost in her thoughts, she started dozing off; it was only until she arrived at her destination that she woke up. She was already there, so, she decided to make the best of it.

She took her bags and walked out of the train searching with her eyes; it had been so long since she saw her childhood friend. That's when she saw the tall, tanned figure waving at her; he had grown a lot since she had last saw him, he still had a kind smile and his big olive eyes were sparkling of happiness; he was wearing an impeccable dark gray suit, and was waiting with a red rose bouquet.

She walked slowly with a shy smile; he was a bit overdressed in comparison to Lucy who was wearing a blue tank top, and a short denim skirt. They hadn't seen each other in years, and they had only recently started talking on the phone; he walked towards her and wrapped her in his arms as if it was normal between them; Lucy was uncomfortable with this, and she didn't know how to react so she pulled away slowly but with a smile.

"I'm so happy that you are here! You look amazing"

Lucy blushed a bit "Hey you look pretty well yourself! You grew up a bit too" She teased, he was definitely taller than Natsu.

"Let me get your bags!"

They walked together to his vehicle, driven by a man that judging by his attire, was at Fukuro's service. The man immediately pulled the door open for them and took Lucy's bags to the trunk.

"Wow… well this is nice"

"You deserve nothing but the best Lulu"

"Oh stop it Fuku-kun" She smiled at him, and he couldn't stop thinking on how that simple gesture was brighter than the sun "Hey, do you know of any good hotels around here?"

Fukuro snorted reminding Lucy that despite the money, the suit, and the lifestyle of nobility, the man sitting next to her was still the same scrawny kid she used to spend her afternoons with "A Hotel? You must have hurt your head during one of those… awful missions with your reckless team… you are staying in my house"

"I really don't mind staying in a hotel; also I don't think it would be appropriate"

"Nonsense, there are more rooms in that house that I even know of. I'm not letting you pay for a room Lu"

Lucy nodded and thanked Fukuro, but for some reason it still felt wrong; she started thinking about Natsu's words _"You haven't seen this guy for years Luce! What do you even know about him?"_ She really didn't know much about him now, but how much could he have changed from the boy she remembered; he smiled at her before pushing her in a childish way, causing her doubts to fade away.

The drive there was still awkward, not a lot of words were exchanged, and they just didn't know where to start. Once close to their destination, Lucy's mouth opened in surprise, the place was even more beautiful that what the remembered.

They drove through an open double gate into a rock path surrounded by beautiful trees; it was almost autumn, so, the leaves started to change colors giving a beautiful mix of green, orange, and brown. She could see more trees at the distance along with other smaller constructions, a greenhouse on the left and flowers of every color covering different patches of land until her eyes couldn't reach that far anymore.

The vehicle finally stopped in front of a beautiful manor that reminded Lucy of her childhood home. It was a large three-floor construction, with what seemed to be a terrace on the last one; the tiles were dark gray and there were at least two lines of windows with at least ten windows each; the outside walls were light blue; it was breathtaking.

"I didn't remember it being this big!"

"I remodeled a bit, but I'm pretty sure it was always big"

"So… I assume the family business is doing well" Lucy smirked at him trying to tease, but his expression changed quickly.

"It is, Lucy… I wish I could have helped you father, but back then none of this was mine"

"Don't… "She smiled again "That was his own doing. How about we avoid subjects that can ruin our reunion?"

"As you wish"

They entered the house, if the incredible manor and the outside hadn't taken enough breaths away from her, the inside of the house did.

Classical white marble floors covered the house along with high pillars completed with magnificent carving, which almost seemed to be holding the ceiling, a beautiful imperial staircase rising to a half-landing, and dividing into two symmetrical flights to then turn to the next floor. Finally, her eyes landed right in the middle of the foyer, where a beautiful rose bed laid right underneath a skylight that illuminated the room.

Lucy was completely baffled by the sight, her mouth was a bit open in surprise, while her eyes shook in amazement; she was almost glowing.

"Wow… This is… a little remodeling you said? This looks like a completely different place!"

"Yeah, I didn't like how my parents kept it, so, after they died I took it upon myself to build something I could enjoy"

"Oh… I'm so sorry, I didn't… I should have been here for you"

She noticed his expression changed to a more serious one, for some reason the idea that he seemed as a completely different person during those few seconds came to mind.

"It's ok; that was also their own doing; so, let's stick to not talk about unpleasant topics, ok?" He smiled again and he went back to the person Lucy though she knew; she decided to disregard her thoughts; Lucy preferred to believe he was just having a hard time with the passing of his parents.

"Greetings, Tatsuma-sama; Heartfilia-Sama, May I take your bags?" The woman entering the room looked impeccable; her gray hair was up in a perfect bun, she was wearing a navy blue uniform with a white collar, which was spotless and went all the way to her knees.

"Alicia please show Ms. Heartfilia to her room and get her settled. Lucy, we will be spending an evening in town, you will find everything you need upstairs; I hope your new accommodations are appropriate"

She hesitated a bit before handing her bags to Alicia; she seemed to remember her and smiled from ear to ear. They went up the stairs and followed the aisle to a white double door with golden carving; Lucy went inside the room and was amazed by it. It had a queen size bed with enormous pillows, a pillar on each corner holding a pink translucent fabric that wrapped around its middle; she ran to the window, it had a desk in front of it, which was ready with paper and pen for her writing, she also noticed the sight, it led to more trees and flowers.

"Is this room to your liking Ma'am?"

"I'll say… this is beautiful"

"Oh there's one more thing to show you" Alicia led Lucy to another door inside the room.

"OH BY MAVIS!" Lucy screamed as soon as her eyes landed on the huge walk in closet filled with so many clothes and colors that she almost cried out of excitement. "This! This is too much!"

Alicia giggled a bit "He just wanted to be as comfortable as you could, so whatever time you remained you had no concerns"

"But… I'm only staying for a few days! This is… too much! I mean I love it… but…"

"Let's see how things go ok? Now if you follow me over here, this leads to your bathroom" She again led the way to the most spacious place Lucy had seen _–I could live in this bathroom… -_ The place had a very spacious shower with glass surrounding it, and next to it a bathtub big enough to fit more than one person. On the other end, she could clearly see a white dressing table with a big mirror on it; this was practically the room she always dreamed of.

"Maaan, I wish I hadn't taken a bath already!"

Alicia giggled, "Well, let's pretend you didn't. I remember as I child you would always love water" She looked up at ceiling remembering "You would always take Tatsuma-sama to the river, one time you conjured your water spirit and you both came back soaking wet with scratches allover"

"Oh yeah… Aquarius can be… tempestuous… "

"Well, I hope you decide to stay" She widen her eyes "For longer, I wish you decide to stay for longer I meant"

Lucy found the comment weird, but she went against her better judgment (again…) and disregarded the idea.

* * *

When Natsu stormed out of the guild, he went straight home to pack. All the way there, he kicked every rock, cursed at every tree and mumbled to himself.

"I'm ridiculous? She's ridiculous! What now she is gonna see this guy that she hasn't seen over the last… decade or whatever! She is so reckless!"

"That's funny… coming from you at least" The blue car snickered and teased his best friend.

"Oi! Where did you come from!?"

"I thought you had your super senses… I think you are losing your edge…"

"Happy! I'm so not in the mood… What do you want?"

"Amm… Well we are going on a mission… aren't we?"

"No, we are going nowhere; I on the other hand am going on a mission"

"Ok so then we are going on a mission"

"Can you fuc…" Natsu stopped himself when he say the face of his friend "I'm sorry little buddy… I need some alone time ok? I'll make it up to you when I come back"

"Hmm ok… am… take care Natsu…"

"Yeah… see you soon"

He got home, grabbed his backpack and got whatever he could find inside, _-She would already be yelling at me for not folding my shit… and making me do a stupid checklist-_ It took him less than 10 minutes to get everything together and then he was gone.

He refused to take the train so he walked for two days before getting to the small town. The job request said he had to report to a small bar called "The raven"; once he found the place he went inside he observed the place, it wasn't much really. It had about ten wood tables with four chairs each, the bar was on the right and on the back, there was a pool table where a crowd was cheering at the competition taking place.

"Oi! I'm looking for Tom!" He was ignored by the loud crowd "YO! SOMEONE?!" again, ignored. He walked there and pushed people aside when he saw her; she was leaning on the table holding a cue and aiming at the eight ball.

"Right pocket" Her voice was commanding but soft at the same time. She was wearing a tight V-neck shirt that exposed her breasts while leaning on the pool table; her hair was the color of Erza's but perfectly curled, and her eyes were olive and deep.

She hit the ball hard, and just as she said, it entered the right pocket. Some people groaned, some cheered; the first half had to pay their bets. She laughed loudly and grabbed a shot from the table, while drinking it a single think stream fell from her mouth and down her neck all the way to the middle of her breasts.

He didn't notice he was staring when her voice startled him "See anything you like?"

He cleared his throat "No, I… I'm looking for Tom…"

"Are you the mage?"

"Yeah, Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail"

"Merryl Marlone… from everywhere" She winked at him and smiled "isn't this my lucky day" She walked around the table moving her hips from side to side until she was in front of him; she sat on the table and without taking her eyes off him she yelled "Hey Tommy! The great savior is here!"

A chubby man made his way towards them in a rush, we has semi bold and had a thick mustache. He wore a white shirt and jeans that were stained from tending the bar "Hey Kid"

"Not a Kid… Natsu Dragneel"

"Sure, sure… ok so you know why you are here for?"

"Some bandits, right?"

"Yeah, they've been attacking the merchants and they've killed some already. The merchants come through the woods at least once a week and we haven't found any patterns on the attacks"

The girl jumped off the table "So that means we have to wait for them"

He snorted and gave her a confused look "WE? Nah, I don't need the company"

"Well, but I need the money darling… You wouldn't deny a fellow her paycheck, would you?"

Natsu really wanted to spend some time alone, but if she had been hired, he was in no authority to make her stay, so he just went with it. She led him through the woods and showed him the spots where the attacks had happened; Natsu picked up many smells, but no blood whatsoever.

"I thought the guy said some merchants had died"

"They did"

"Bullshit… There's no blood"

"Ok know it all… and how would you know?"

"You can't fool a Dragon Slayer's nose"

"Well maybe they killed them some other way, who knows"

"We should have asked how they died, it's a good way to prepare ourselves" Natsu immediately felt weird saying that _–Definitely something Lucy would say…maybe something rubbed on me…-_

"You worry too much!" She glanced at him and grabbed his bicep "With a man as strong as you, we have nothing to worry about" Natsu pulled his arm off awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head.

They finally arrived to a place good enough to set camp, close to the river to have water available, enough trees to shelter them and enough dry space to light a fire.

"So, Natsu was it? You said you can fool a Dragon Slayer's nose, what exactly is that?"

"A Dragon Slayer? Hmm, well there's a few of us; we were raised by Dragons until they disappeared some years back, and they thought us our magic"

"I see, I thought Dragons were extinct"

"I mean yeah, but… It's really complicated" He didn't really want to explain the full version of Anna, Zeref and his books, the jump in time and such; even for him the details were not really clear.

"I love complicated. So how many slayers do you know?"

"Hmm let's see… My guild has three aside from me, I know Iron-br… I mean Gajeel, and Wendy, which are first generation Dragon Slayers, and Laxus, but he wasn't raised by a Dragon… then Sting and Rogue from Sabretooth… Oh yeah also Cobra from… well he is from another guild…"

"And what's up with the nose thing?"

"Our senses are heightened, so we can notice stuff other people can't; so, we can detect smells, find people, you know that type of thing"

"Wow" she sat closer to him "So, what do I smell like?" Natsu got a bit uncomfortable, it was uncommon for people to willingly submit to a Dragon Slayers nose, and he had been scolded by Erza enough times to know it was not polite to sniff at people.

She leaned over and stretched her neck right in front of him "Just out of curiosity, of course…"

He stared at her before breathing through his nose, he immediately recognize the smell, and whispered "Lucy's perfume…" she looked at him "I smell like who?" He shook his head and laughed nervously "A friend, you are wearing the same perfume she does, but she smells different than you, even without it she smells like vanilla…"

They went on with their day, Natsu did a bit of fishing for dinner and they sat down by the fire while she continued to ask questions about his guild life.

"What's up with the interview Merryl?"

"Hey if I'm going to spend three months with you here, I need to make sure you are no psycho"

He burst into laughter and shook his head "Fine, you've got a point there. How do I know you are not a psycho then… you could try to kill me in my sleep"

"Well what do you want to know?" Natsu frowned "Hmm, I don't know… tell me about your family"

"Well, there's only my mother, my brother and I… I used to have a boyfriend to, but it turns out he is kind of a dick; apparently I'm always attracted to the wrong type of people…"

"Well… aren't we all" he smiled and looked at the fire intensely, he couldn't get Lucy out of his mind, it hadn't been a day and he already missed her, but he couldn't back out know; the guild's name was too important for him to quit a job.

The days passed each more boring than the last; there was no sign from the bandits although he did hear and smell the merchants pass by frequently just as Tom had said.

Each night brought the same nightmare over and over again; he would wake up panting, sweating and shaking reminding himself that he wouldn't be capable of such atrocity. One night the dream was even more vivid and he just couldn't go back to sleep; he stood up and removed everything but his boxers before jumping in the river to cool off.

"Hey Flame-boy… what are you doing?"

"Hmm… couldn't sleep"

"Ok then" Natsu looked as she got ahold of her shirt and pulled it over her head, "What are you doing?" she smiled and latched her fingers to the rim of her shorts, "Well… if you can't sleep…" she pulled them down slowly, and she was left in nothing but a black bra and matching panties before jumping in the water.

She immediately threw water on his face and laughed, he wiped his eyes and smirked before retaliating and pushed her in the water. It wasn't long before they both laughed uncontrollably. Merryl got closer and wrapped her arms around his neck; Natsu immediately pulled himself back but she didn't budge.

"Hey… What are you doing?"

"Just enjoying myself"

Natsu cleared his throat "I think I've cooled down enough" he grabbed her arms and pulled to remove her from him before jumping out of the water; he died immediately with his body heat and changed before going to bed.

The nightmares became more frequent, which each day, Natsu was looking far beyond his best; his face showed anguish and tiredness, even his appetite had diminish with time. He'd been in the woods for a few weeks now. During that time, they had talked about many things, mostly Natsu's adventures, Lucy, Happy, Lucy… Gray, Erza, Lucy… (So yeah, Lucy came up a lot…).

He was getting a bit more than frustrated, there were still no news on the bandits, and with each day, Merryl became more determined to get his attention, and even more difficult to remove from his side.

This day however, had been relaxing; Merryl had gone to town a few hours before to get more food and supplies, and he had taken advantage of it to swim naked, rest a bit and just be alone with his thoughts, which he now knew was a bad idea; his mind kept going back to the day he argued with Lucy, how he slapped her hand and yelled at her _–She's right about me… I'm a total idiot…-_

It was late already when the sound of footsteps took him away from his thought, he recognize the sent "It took you long enough"

She laughed loudly causing him to turn to look at her; the fire flickered and reflected on her red curly hair, her emerald eyes sparked; she was wearing a red buttoned blouse with a V-neck and a pair of tight blue jeans that showed her near perfect silhouette.

"Hey Dragon-boy! Stop being a buzzkill… Look at what I got! I'm sure this will help take that pathetic frown of your face honey"

"Merryl, I'm not in the mood for your comments, we've been here for 3 weeks and nothing has happened, I'm bored out of my mind! I think… I think I should go back home, I have some personal shit to take care of"

"Duh… we all have personal shit to take care of… this is a job dummy, we are not here because we want to be"

Merryl kept walking but lost her balance and was about to fall, thankfully Natsu's reflexes kicked in, and she ended up in his arms.

"Well Lizard, it seems there are a few benefits to having you close by, I wonder how many more benefits are there" she said while putting her arms around his neck.

Natsu blushed a bit and helped her stand "Well copper head… the only benefits of having me close is that I can defeat anyone! One time Luc…"

He was immediately interrupted, Merryl waved her hand disregarding his comment, and snorted "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy…I don't see your girlfriend here keeping you warm at night, so I don't understand why you mention her sooo often"

"She's not… she's not my girlfriend, she is my partner and my best friend..." he felt like there was more to say but he bit his tongue."So hot head, what did you bring from town?"

She smirked at him and got two bottles of whiskey from her bag "Man… you and Cana would get along well… but I pity the poor bastard that walked near both of you"

They had dinner by the fire underneath the stars; they opened both bottles and started to drink right from the bottle. After a while there was about ¼ of liquid in each bottle, she assumed this will get Natsu a bit chatty, however her plan didn't work as well as she expected due to her lack of knowledge in Dragon Slayer metabolism, and the fact Natsu grew up with Cana, so she was definitely more drunk than he was.

"So...the girl ain't your girlfriend then?"

Sigh "No…"

"But you would like her to, wouldn't you?"

He choked a bit causing an awkward silence "of course not, she is my most faithful friend… the person I can always trust, she is...was… I don't… she is probably angry at me…"

"Come on… how can she stay angry at someone like you" She gave him a lustful smile, which made him blush; he looked up at the sky seeing the constellations, and thinking how he should have listened when she tried to explain their names and guardian spirits.

"We… had a fight before I left… I was a total dick now that I think about it…"

"So have you ever kissed her?"

Natsu looked at her completely annoyed "What type of question is that? No we haven't, not that's any of your business Merr…"

"Oh honey, you can't blame me for asking, so… final question, have you actually kissed someone before?"

Natsu put his hands on the back on his head and laid down on the floor looking at the stars again thinking on a proper answer, but took a second too long. Merryl let herself fall on his chest, and got her face close enough to cause their noses to touch, he instantly froze "Merryl what the fuck?"

"What's wrong honey? You have no one, I have no one, we are all alone here and no one is going to come for us"

"Ok so?"

"Clearly you've never kissed someone before… it would be a crime to let that situation be, don't you think?" she fisted his vest and pulled him even closer.

Natsu had a feeling he hadn't had before, he was confused by her actions, the mix of alcohol and Lucy's perfume caused a fire to build in his lower stomach; it soon covered his full body, and suddenly Merryl closed the gap between them until their lips touched softly.

He felt a rush, his head started spinning, there was something stirring inside him, and then he saw her, Lucy's image jumped to his head, he didn't know why, her smile, her scent, he snapped out of it and noticed Merryl was now completely on top of him now basically grinding against him.

"Merr, stop, I can't do this; this is not what I want"

Merryl grinned and looked down "Salamander, your words may say no" She looked down "But that's probably the only part of you that thinks that, come on kid, I told you no one will bother us here"

Natsu stayed quiet for a second before he got up quickly pushing her away from him, "hold on… you called me Salamander, we've been here for almost a month and you've never called me that, and you seem very sure no one will come here"

Merryl started laughing frenetically and clapped while she sat on the floor "Bravo honey! You are not as stupid as they told me you'll be, I'll give you that, and it only took you three weeks! Yeap, no one is coming, your mission was to be here, and mine was you"

He gave her a death stare, he was pissed off "and all of this?! How far are you willing to go for your mission!?"

"Oh honey please! This is not part of the mission; I'm just a girl who doesn't mind to mix business with pleasure"

He snapped; Natsu grabbed her from the hair, and looked at her with fire in his eyes; his mind was going wild _–you are dead, you are dead, I should end you right now and say the bandits got to you… no one would think twice; I'll tear you apart – ._ His internal voice scared him so much that he released her from his grip, causing her to fall on her back. That's when he saw it; her shirt was now unbuttoned, and hidden below her right breast there was a guild mark he didn't recognize.

He took a few steps back before he started running to put some distance between them, he felt something within him that was not right, something fighting to get out, and the thought of not knowing what he would be capable of, shook him to his very core.

The last thing he heard from her while he ran, was her frenetic laughter "You should have taken the opportunity I offered Salamander, you'll never be worthy of her"


	3. Chapter 3

**YOSH! Editing Ch 3… No big news this week at least for now. SO… I made a few additions to the story including a more ahem… descriptive version of Lucy's dream that hopefully you'll enjoy.**

 **Also… I'm running out of good fanfic to read *puts hands together and bows* please send me a message recommending some, I don't mind if they are lengthy; in all honestly I check reviews and if I see "OMG when are you updating" I usually pass, it bothers me too much when stories are left without a conclusion.**

 **I do not own any of these characters; the story is simply a fanfiction about the original characters.**

* * *

"We're all stumbling in the dark, and that makes for some pretty interesting collisions."  
― **Marty Rubin**

* * *

Lucy decided to take a long bath in her majestic bathtub, she didn't have the need to take anything out of her; it almost seemed they knew exactly what she needed. The room was supplied with a variety of essential oils and bath salts that if it wasn't for her now needing to provide for herself, she would probably buy.

It was very similar to the scents she would usually pick, except much fancier than her usual items. She was embraced by vanilla and lavender along with the extremely hot water from the tub. It was normal for her to use scolding water, although she wondered where the habit started; this led to a small monologue while resting her chin on the edge of the tub.

"I wish this water was hotter… Pf… any hotter would probably melt my skin off… Nah… I've survived Natsu's "fire dragon size" tantrums, I'd probably be fine" She giggled a bit before sighing "I guess after hanging out with him for so long water doesn't seem as hot…" She sighed again thinking of him and shook her head "I mean hot as in fire, not that I think he is hot… of course I don't… stupid Natsu…"

She started feeling guilty, she had let him leave knowing there was something else bothering him aside from her reuniting with her long lost friend, she had left too "I guess a little time to cool off does't hurt…"

She got out of the tub and wrapped a baby pink fluffy towel against her body, and a second one on her head to take the excess water from her golden locks; she walked towards her bags only stopping a bit to glance at the things in the biggest closet she had ever seen. The clothes were gorgeous, but reminded her of a time where she was unhappy; a life filled with long stiff dresses and shoes, wine glasses and fancy dinners, a distant father and an arranged marriage.

She got to her bags and selected a cute black skirt that stopped above her knees and was open on the side, a dark blue sleeveless blouse and a matching pair of shoes; she dried her hair and added a little blush and lipstick before looking at the mirror. She went down the stairs and noticed Fukuro was already waiting for her.

Lucy stopped midway, and smiled at him only to find a frown on his face "Amm… everything ok?" she suddenly felt nervous and out of place.

"Ahem, yeah… you look lovely, but I really think you should change into something more appropriate"

She lifted her left eyebrow staring at him "Why?" He cleared his throat, and pulled the sleeves of his coat nervously "Well, we are going to a nice place" she soften her brow and took a deep breath "And…" Fukuro knew she had made her uncomfortable but he decided not to budge "While you look incredibly breathtaking Lulu, there's a code of etiquette there… I'm sorry to ask, could you? Please…"

She sighed in defeat _–fine, I'll wear the stupid uncomfortable thing –_ "Fine… give me a few minutes"

Lucy went back up, walked into the closet and stared at the dresses for a few minutes before choosing a soft salmon colored dress with a heart shaped cleavage. She found herself trapped in yet another monologue.

"Why did I want to come? Magnificent idea… I leave an uneducated idiot to visit an aristocratic one! Mavis! This is all my fault, if I just stood my ground with these assholes!" she almost lost her balance removing her shoes, which caused her to have to jump a few steps "If I was home we would be having hot wings! Or burgers from that stand we love…UGH!" she finally managed to wiggle inside the dress only to find herself unable to zip herself up "FUUUUCK!"

She stomp her way down the stairs, and blushed as she turned her back to Fukuro "Just zip me up… and watch your hands" He tried to contain his laugh while pulling on the small zipper "What's so funny?!" Fukuro was the one blushing with embarrassment now "I'm sorry Lulu! But you haven't changed a bit! Still a fire cracker for what I can see"

After puffing her cheeks in annoyance, she grudgingly accepted his arm to walk outside of the house; the driver was waiting outside of the vehicle, he opened the door for her before getting behind the wheel.

The drive to the restaurant was quiet, she rested her face on the window looking at the fanciest buildings and whispered to herself "Toto, I've a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore…"

"Sorry Lu, did you say something?"

"Oh no! I was just admiring how much the place has changed…"

"Oh yeah! We remodeled part of the city"

"We?... how many of those places do you own?"

"Hmm just some, also I'm part of the city council, and I'm very involved with politics here"

"Like the whole kissing children and cutting ribbons type of involved?"

He chuckled a bit "Yeah, what other type of politics are there Lu?" She laughed a bit and let her bad mood fade away.

The restaurant was impressive, candle light, chandeliers, red silk tablecloths. Lucy couldn't help but think on how every woman there was trying to look as if they came out of a magazine. Fukuro ordered the most expensive wine bottle, and ordered for both of them after giving a quick glance at the menu, which she didn't appreciate much.

"So Lulubelle! Tell me about you?"

"Lulu what? Ugh never mind… well, I don't know what else I can tell you. You know I'm with Fairy Tail" she lifted her hand to show her pink guild mark "I'm part of one of the most kickass teams in Magnolia!"

"Well I know that, but you haven't talked much about the rest of your team, just that kid you work with?"

"Kid?... Oh you mean Natsu? Well he ain't a kid really, he is just a big dragon baby" She laughed at her own comment imagining a little Natsu with dragon wings and tail flying around "I also work with Erza, Gray, and Happy!"

"Seriously… Happy? One of your guild mates is named Happy?"

"Yeah! Well he is a cat really, a flying, talking, annoying, fish addicted cat"

"Oh… that's… interesting…"

"Yeah! Well Erza is one of my closest friends, she is drop-dead gorgeous! And Scary… really scary, people know her as Titania the Fairy Queen. One time Natsu stole the last piece of strawberry cake and after she was done with him he had to stay in bed for a week!"

"I see… and this other guy?"

"Oh Gray! Well he is an ice-mage, a pretty impressive one actually. He is pretty strong but also kind of secluded, and has super intense rivalry against Natsu, man you should see them fight, seriously! The guild has been destroyed thousands of times"

"So it all comes back to the dragon baby then, you sure seem to like him the best"

Lucy blushed immediately "wh-why do you say that? I mean I've told you, he is m-my partner, and my b-best friend"

He didn't pursue the conversation on that, the food arrived at the table while he continued talking about his business and future plans while Lucy nodded politely; her mind however was once again drifting into the third monologue of the day.

 _-Why is he eating so slowly? Wait am I eating too fast? Stupid Natsu… eating with him has forced me into slurping my food to keep him away from it; ok, slow down… chew Lucy. I would so prefer to be eating a burger… this food is boring, it reminds me of my house –_ Lucy noticed she had thought about the word house, and not home; she knew very well her home was filled with noise, magic and fire, no other place could ever be called that for her.

They finished up and walked outside of the restaurant to get into the vehicle that was already waiting for them.

"I had a lovely night Fuku-kun, that was an incredible restaurant" _Ugh… the burgers though…_

"I'm so happy you enjoyed it!" His smiled went from ear to ear "I have many other surprises planned you know? I just wished you could stay longer, there will be a festival next weekend, I hope you consider at staying until then"

Lucy smiled and said she would think about it, she was enjoying herself; it was everything a vacation ought to be, however the lifestyle didn't suit her anymore and after being there for a day she was already homesick.

They started getting closer to his place, since it was night the gate leading to the main path was closed, it was an old metallic arch with a 2-door gate, she noticed an inscription on it "Timor autem pertinet ad infirma"; the old gate also had a beautiful figure of its family's shield, an owl.

"Fuku-kun, why does the inscription say fear belongs to the weak?"

"Someone has been polishing their Latin" He smiled at her sweetly "Because it does Lu, there's no place to show weakness in life, anyone who does will accomplish nothing"

"Hmm I think truly brave people look fear in the face and take action despite of it. I think the bravest people feel scared often but accomplish their goals through determination"

"Well that's a very interesting opinion that we can continue debating throughout your visit, and we probably will if you continue being as hardheaded as I remember" they both laughed and stayed silent; Lucy was amazed by the sight of the tree lane and flowers showered by the night sky.

The path leading to the house was filled with the smell of trees and flowers, Lucy enjoyed every second of the view from the window, although she missed the cherry blossoms from home, which by now were probably losing their leaves.

Fukuro slowly moved his hand towards hers and held it gently, little by little his fingers started to entwine with hers; this startled her a bit, but in her mind, she took it as a friendly gesture from her friend.

Once they entered the house, Fukuro stopped her below the skylight pulling her hand, he put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him; one of his hands made it's way to her nape while the other one rested on her back. Fukuro was more than a bit surprised when Lucy placed her hands on his chest and pushed gently.

"W-what are you doing?"

He released her nape and sighed, "You keep waiting for someone that won't come Lulu, but I'm a patient person and you are worth it"

"You know I care about you, so much, but we are just good friends, whatever happens in mi life that feeling won't change"

"You don't know that, I can give you anything you want"

"I have everything I want now"

"Oh please… you work yourself off to pay rent, you endanger yourself and come back with scrapes all over your precious skin… that's no life for a princess Lu. I can give you the world, just say what you want and I'll get it for you"

Lucy pushed his hands harder successfully separating herself from him "I'm tired Fukuro, I'll see you tomorrow ok?" Lucy smiled at him politely and walked up the stairs with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. _–This was a mistake… I don't need any of this-_

Fukuro observed her until she disappeared on the marvelous steps, he stared at his right hand as if looking for something missing, that hand had held hers, and he could feel her warmth. He was left looking at the moon through the skylight and suddenly a crooked grin appeared on his face; that was not the look of a defeated man.

* * *

The pink-haired dragon slayer kept running until he couldn't feel his legs, his gut told him something was not right but he couldn't pinpoint it. Judging by the moon, he knew that it was late although he had no way of telling.

He stopped and rested his hands on his knees panting, before cleaning the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand _–Fucking psycho…-_ He knew he was too far away from her, he had been running for hours now, but the way she laughed still sent shivers down his spine, there was something off.

It was clear to him that despite running with all his strength, he wouldn't make it home that night, so he decided to rest, surely, a few hours of sleep would clear his head. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, and soon after that, he was engulfed by the darkness around him.

The same nightmare he'd been having for the past couple of months made his way into his head, this dream had caused him to be afraid of closing his eyes and for the last couple of months he hadn't allowed himself to rest more than a few hours at a time.

He kept repeating to himself it was just a dream, it didn't hurt anyone really, but just the thought of the images crossing his mind was enough to deprive himself from it. He woke up in a rush, with cold sweat, gasping for air and holding his chest, there were tears on his face, crimson scales covered the left side of his body.

"This is just a bad dream, just a bad dream… I would never…" He glanced at his arm and saw the scales. He wanted to cover his face with his hands but stopped to observe the crimson claw that looked sharp enough to shred someone to pieces.

Slowly his skinned turned back to normal and he decided sleeping was not an option at this point, something was wrong and he needed to go back home. He ordered his legs to move despite of still feeling them as jelly, and continued with way back home.

* * *

Merryl

She continued laughing hysterically after he was gone; she hugged herself as her laughter resonated through the forest until it faded to become intense sobbing. She knew she'd done something wrong and was aware there would be a price to pay.

She sat down and held her head with both hands while pulling her knees to her chest in complete panic.

"It's too soon, it's too soon, I need to fix this. It can't be too late, I can fix it, I will fix it"

She took a communication Lacrima from her bag and held it to her chest for a few minutes. Her heart and mind were racing as she tried to think if there was a way out of this, however she couldn't think of any. She held the lacrima with her shaky hands and took a deep breath before activating it.

"He…he is gone, I couldn't hold him here for longer. I can fix it, just tell me how to fix it, I know I can"

Silence invaded the space; she felt her heart stopping "Please… Please…" she couldn't hold the tears running down her face "Just give me one more chance". All of the sudden a familiar voice came from the artifact

"It was barely enough time, but it is not too late Merryl. I'm almost done but I need an extra couple of days, you will go to him. I need eyes in Fairy Tail, I'm a merciful man, IF you succeed I'll keep my end of the bargain, but if you don't… well I guess you don't want to find out"

She knew she needed to come up with a plan and decided to leave in the morning; she got closer to the fire and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Lucy

Lucy changed into a pair of shorts and a red oversized shirt, before throwing herself into bed. She hugged the pillow and couldn't help to grab the shirt and smelling it; it still smelled like him no matter how many times she wore it.

It smelled like campfire and cinnamon, these smells made her think of home although she didn't know why. Out of all the smells she could think of, these were her favorite ones, and the ones that reminded her of him the most.

He used to sleep in that shirt all the time, until one day during a mission Lucy ripped her blouse on a fight, causing more than one of their male companions to stare shamelessly at her. Natsu had noticed the stares and got the shirt out of his bag for her to wear.

The next day she tried giving it back to him only for him to place his hands behind his head mumbling "Keep it… you look… comfortable in it" she just smiled and nodded; she wouldn't admit, but it was her favorite thing to wear to bed.

She grabbed a book she kept next to her; it had been a gift from Levy, another romance novel describing impossible love defeating all odds. Of course any romance novel Levy recommended would be charged with very descriptive passionate scenes _–I swear one this days her nose is going to bleed in the middle of the guild…-_ She read for a bit, the night was cold and she had too many thoughts; she felt guilt, longing, and sadness.

"I'll go back tomorrow, nothing will get solved if I stay here hiding" she felt confident about her resolution, and decided to get some rest.

 _She drifted away slowly and wrapped herself in her blankets while images about a dreadful future flooded her mind. It started at the guild, sitting at a stool from the bar, Mira cleaning a glass and smiling, Levy punching Gajeel's chest for saying something disturbing, while Natsu and Gray fought bringing anyone along their destructive path. She was laughing with her friends; home was happiness, laughter, love._

 _It changed too quickly; all of the sudden the earth trembled; the laughter died down and gave space for the painful screams of the city asking for help. The guild knew it was up to them to save the citizens; determined to do so, the mages stood up and went outside to protect the people of Magnolia._

 _They knew they were under attack, but no one seemed to know who was behind it, all they could see was a dark purple mist covering from ground to sky, making impossible for them to see beyond their noses. It seemed as if the mist had a mind of its own, it moved slowly, rhythmically, almost like if it was dancing._

 _Dust and shadows covered the sky making Lucy cough, a single a ray of light came through the heavy mist, making everything barely visible, and what she saw shook her to her very core. Her town was completely devastated, there was nothing left to save; where before trees, houses and stores stood there was now rubbage, and a dense red liquid covered everything –Blood… so much blood-. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide; screams in the distance cut through her ears like a sharp knife._

 _Lucy let herself fall on her knees and cried, she turned around to look behind her, searching for help; she wasn't prepared for what she saw, and each image was worse than the other._

 _Levy was on the ground, a gash from forehead to chin cutting through her left eye, or what used to be her eye at least, her body lying on a pool of blood; her small frame was covered by a bigger one with a large dark mane. Gajeel's back had a cut so deep that almost split his body in half, leaving on sight some bone and muscle, and his arm barely hanging by a pink thread._

 _She moved her eyes to find Erza's bloody hand holding on to Mira, she could only recognize them by the color of their hair and their tainted clothes. The bottom of Erza's body was missing letting her insides sprawled on the floor, while Mira's body look like it had burnt from inside out._

 _She covered herself and screamed in pain while her dead family surrounded her, she was alone…_

 _Out of nowhere, a person appeared next to her, tanned skin, pink hair, and white scarf around his neck that moved with the dark wind that tried to engulf them. Even without looking at him, the warmth radiating for his body was enough to know who he was. He kneeled in front of her and grabbed her shoulders._

 _"You need to go, I'll save you, I'll make it all better, go now"_

 _She refused and held to his arms, he padded her head and flashed his signature grin, as if his smile could make it all better; she hugged him and refused to let go._

 _"You can't go! You can't leave me alone!"_

 _He hugged her back gracing his cheek with hers, then he moved gently in a loving gesture, as if he wanted to feel the softness of her skin. He grabbed the back of her head and with a swift move pulled her into a sweet and passionate kiss._

 _"I'll find you Luce, wherever you are, I'll always find you" he cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb removing the tears from her face before facing the thread ahead._

 _Natsu stood up and ran into the cloud in front of him, she couldn't see him anymore, and desperation sank deep into her soul. A gust of wind blinded her a bit; she could hear him roaring in the distance, the sound of his fire causing explosions… and then nothing. When she opened her eyes, she saw his scarf riding the wind, covered in bright red. She turned her eyes to the mist in disbelieve…_

" _He can't be… he never loses! Natsu!"_

 _The place was deadly silent and she felt her heart breaking even more. "Natsu! Come back!" Nothing._

 _She heard a dripping sound, and squinted her eyes to try to see beyond the mist; drip-drip-drip the sound didn't go away, drip-drip-drip. She widen her eyes as a thin blood stream that seemed to be engraved with fire made its way towards her, creating a small pool of blood around her; it was his blood, she knew; the warmth it irradiated was one she knew well._

Lucy woke up in tears, she was panting and covered in cold sweat that made her hair stick to her face and neck; her body was shacking uncontrollably, and she hugged her pillow while curling in bed to cry for the rest of the night.

It was barely morning and her bags were fully ready, she made her way down the stairs and left them next to the door when she heard his voice in the foyer.

"Leaving so soon Lulu?" She stuttered nervously, and tried to respond but was interrupted by Fukuro's hand gesture "It's fine Lucy, you are free to go. May I request one last favor? Just stay for breakfast and Tea, I'll ask Alicia to get everything ready to take you to the station ok?"

She nodded and followed him to a large room, it had a full red velvet living room and a fireplace, and on the opposite side a small table next to a window leading to the garden where everything had been set up for them to eat.

They had a basic polite conversation while eating; she kept looking at the time anxiously, and was ready to go home.

"Lucy what are you expecting to find back home? Here you can have whatever you want, luxury, peace, someone that knows your true value and that is ready to give you everything; I think I've made that very clear"

"I… I appreciate that, but I love my life, my friends, and…"

"And that irrational Dragon Slayer of yours. Really, what can he possibly offer you; he sounds terrible in all honesty"

That comment made Lucy fist her hands under the table "Look I know I said some harsh things, but he is an incredible person, he cares for me, he is my best friend and I don't appreciate you bad mouthing him"

"Oh I'm sorry Lu; I forgot you were completely and madly in love with him"

"No, I mean we don't have that type of relationship, but he is my best friend and NO ONE speaks like that about my friends"

"Once upon a time I used to be your friend too, did you forget?"

"I didn't… once upon a time sounds about right… but then again that was a long time ago"

"Lucy, you are lying to yourself with this… attempt of a life you have! What reason do you have to reject my generous offer?"

She frowned at his comment, "Well Fukuro, Thank you for your VERY generous offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline, I'm going home now, thank you for your hospitality" Lucy was standing up when suddenly Fukuro grabbed her wrist violently; she was shocked by the speed in which it happened.

"Let go, you are hurting me" her eyes were harsh when she stared at him, but what she saw was a different man that the one she knew.

"No Lulu, I haven't even started hurting you… you see I do love you, I always have, and I wanted this to be your choice, so I decided to give you an opportunity to understand you belong here"

Lucy couldn't understand what was happening, this couldn't be the same person, he had an evil grin and his eyes were emotionless. He turned her hand so she could see her palm, little by little, a shape became visible, and a dark owl was now painted on it.

"What is this? What did you do?"

"Oh not much yet but you'll see. So this is what's going to happen, we are going to get married, and you're going to be happy, I'll make sure of it. I'm not a monster, you will be able to invite your silly friends but they won't be allowed to visit unless I'm informed"

Lucy couldn't stop laughing, "Why are you so fucking sure I'm going to do this? Even if you succeed in keeping me here, they will come for me. Natsu will ruin your plans with his hands behind his back; he will burn this place to the ground"

"Oh yeah that's right we still need to discuss your little pet lizard. Well Lucy, I'm sure you are going to beg me to do this; it is very simple you see, either you do this, or there will be no power in hell that will be able to bring him back from the land of the death"

"You couldn't never defeat him or the guild, we fight together and we don't leave people behind"

Fukuro pointed at the black owl on her hand "But Lucy, are you ready to see your worst nightmare become true? What's it going to be? A lifetime of happiness with me knowing your pet lizard is alive… somewhere, or a lifetime of regret and loneliness caused by your childish selfishness?"


	4. Chapter 4

**OK CH4 Re written! I've added details that I think were very much needed. Also trying to give a more emotional background on our Fire Dragon slayer so some of his actions are better understood. Hopefully this would make as much sense for you as if it did for me. Please R &R**

 _ **Remember Italics are for flashbacks, dreams, or internal**_ ** _dialogues._**

 ** _-A-_**

* * *

" **Yes I can smile, but it's so easy to fake it. Yes I can act like I'm happy, but inside I'm falling apart. Yes I can pretend like everything is ok, but in reality I'm broken."  
― **Ester Escalante

* * *

After a few days of constant travel, Natsu was finally getting home. He was exhausted, sleep deprived, starved, and had pushed himself so hard that he had stopped feeling his legs days before. This wasn't uncommon; he was used to pushing himself beyond his limits time after time, to the point of tearing himself apart.

He finally slowed down once he recognize the terrain; a dirt path surrounded by trees that led to his own house. He didn't like the idea of living in town, this suited him more; for someone who made as much noise as he did, he actually preferred the peace and quiet of leaving outside of town.

Most town people knew and cared for him, but they had personally requested him to live a bit further away due to the imminent fire, and destruction that usually accompanied him. This wasn't at all offensive for him; after all, there were only a few mages who were asked to live outside of town, a few like Gildarts and Laxus of course.

He opened the door, and took a deep breath; he didn't know how much he had missed his house until the familiar scents hit him. He could tell Happy wasn't there, but he decided to take a shower and get a change of clothes; there was no way he was going to get away with going to the guild in his current condition.

He felt a hole in his chest eating away his soul, it felt like the emptiness was consuming him from within, and he didn't know what to do about it. Yes, he missed his place, but it seemed a house more than a home now, there was something missing, a certain warmth, a smell or quality that he couldn't quite point out.

Natsu walked towards the bathroom, and removed his clothes with painful moves; he turned the water on as hot as possible, and let it run down his spine while he rested his forehead on the cold tile. His muscles relaxed a little and he allowed the scolding water to take care of his sore body.

His hair was dripping wet, causing water drops to fall on his face and cover his eyes; as soon as he closed them, flashbacks from his dreams flooded his vision, the sound of her screams in his mind were unbearable. He shook his head "So much for a relaxing shower…" he grabbed the shampoo and decided to get it over with.

He wasn't a "feelings and conversation" person, more like a "demonstrate through actions" one. He had spent some time alone after Igneel left, but he never spoke about it aside from the few things Makarov had gotten out of him when he found him all those years ago.

He had seen Lucy die one time too many, sure… it wasn't _his_ Lucy, not the one from his timeline but that didn't mean it hurt him less, he had seen his father die; there were too many things in his head but as far as everyone was concerned he was fine.

Natsu clenched his jaw as he remembered standing in front of Lisanna's grave next to the little house they'd built while incubating Happy.

 _Elfman was standing behind Natsu crying over his lost sister "I'm so sorry Lisanna, It's all my fault you're gone… My little sister… If only we had taken you with us Natsu this wouldn't have happened; she'd still be alive"_

" _Would you shut up? Enough with the blubbering already. Do you really think Lisanna would like for you to carry around that guilt? How's she supposed to smile if her brother is feeling sad?"_

" _You're right…"_

 _Natsu was shaking, and his voice trembled while he observed in pain the cold stone with the name of Lisanna Strauss, his best friend and the person he thought he would spend the rest of his life with "No matter what happened, she always had a smile on her face… remember? Even at the very end, she never lost her smile… If she were here now… I'm sure she'd say whenever you are feeling down, that's when you need to smile the most" He turned around with tears streaming down his face "So buck up, show her a smile like a real man"_

Sure, Lisanna was back, they had found her in Edolas long ago, but the experience of losing her never left him. He remembered when he first heard Lisanna saying those words to him. They were very young and he had been in the guild for no more than a few days still dealing with the loneliness that was left after Igneel's disappearance.

When he heard those words from her lips, he made a decision; he would smile even when his soul commanded him not to. He knew well that the simple action would bring peace and strength to his friends, the ones that had welcomed him and made him part of something bigger, the ones who had given him something to defend and to call home. Since that day he hadn't stopped smiling, his signature grin had become part of his personality. How could they know that sometimes his biggest smile was a signal of his greatest sorrow?

How could he ever be less than fine? He was happy with his life, friends, and guild; he would trust his friends with his life, but sharing the thoughts that cut through his brain was much different that trusting them with life and death situations. It was as letting them know that he was not as strong as they thought he was, and deep down he felt that would take away their strength too.

He finished his shower and dried himself up in seconds with his magic; he stopped at the mirror and rested his hands on the sink. There were dark circles on his eyes, but explaining he traveled all night would easily take care of any question. He took a second glance and brushed his fingers through his scars, each one of them telling a story on how he fought to keep evil at bay. He dressed up and fixed himself a little before leaving the house and walking to the guild.

All the way back he kept thinking about ways to apologize, but every time he opened his mouth and heard himself, it sounded stupid. He wasn't sorry about everything, yes, he was sorry about slapping her hand, about acting angry, but he still thought she shouldn't leave to see a guy she didn't know anymore.

Without noticing, he was standing in front of the guild; Natsu took a deep breath to compose himself and forced a big smile on his face before pushing the door open. He was trying a bit too hard to smile as if nothing had happened "I"M BACK!" his eyes kept searching for her blonde hair, but she wasn't there.

"Natsu!" Happy flew to his arms right away with small tears falling down his blue fur; Natsu picked him up and smiled at him, everyone seemed excited at their friend's return.

"How did the mission go?" Mira didn't look at him directly; she just asked and kept cleaning the glasses.

"Well Mira it… it went" he rubbed the back of his head and grinned once more while still hugging Happy against his chest.

"Mh? Did you get paid?"

"Can we just discuss this later? Have you seen Lucy?" Mira noticed there was something in his mind, but he looked about the same as he always did, which did nothing to ease her concerns. She looked at him for a second before turning away and shaking her head.

A friendly voice replied, "She left almost at the same time you did, we haven't heard from her yet, I'm sure she'll be back soon, she thought you would be gone for 3 months" she didn't move her eyes from the book to reply to him, and he sensed a bit of spite in her voice.

"Hey Levy, this is important, do you know exactly where she is?"

She looked at him and raised her eyebrow "I know she went to visit a _friend_ , but I don't know exactly where. I wonder why she left in such a rush…" It was obvious Levy had emphasized the word friend with a certain tone, and he knew Levy was aware of what had happened.

Happy looked at his Friend and pouted "Natsu I miss Lucy! It's not fun without her!"

He clenched his fists and jaw at the mere thought; he couldn't decide if he was angrier at her for going away, or at himself for pushing her. It was noticeable that he was upset about it, and Levy put her book down for a second to truly observe her friend.

"A-are you ok?"

He laughed like he used to and fisted his hands on his hips "Of course I am Lev, Geez... you are spending too much time with Luce, you are getting weirder by the minute"

"Natsu…" The blue exceed knew Natsu well, they had lived together since he hatched and was no stranger to how his best friend sometimes got lost in his thought in what seemed to be sadness only to come back to his usual demeanor a few seconds later.

He sighed, he opened his mouth to try to convince Levy to provide more information; if someone knew where Lucy was, it was Levy. Before he could manage to get his words out, a voice interrupted his attempt

"Yo! Fire-Clown I thought you had finally understood that you couldn't defeat me! It seems you hadn't had enough yet!"

Natsu rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his face "Hey Gray"

"Come on Flame for Brains! I'll sweep the floor with you!"

He smiled again and shook his head "I think I'll take a raincheck on that" he turned on his heel and waved them goodbye before walking away from the guild.

"I'll come with you!" Natsu shook his head "Nah buddy, I just need to get some sleep… I traveled all night ya know? Why don't you ask Mira for some fish? Tell her I'll pay for it later ok?"

"Mhmm Aye…"

Everyone looked baffled at that point, not once since childhood had Natsu said no to a fight, especially when it came to Gray Fullbuster.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Gray clenched his firsts and started walking towards the door, when Juvia grabbed his arm and shook her head silently.

"Juvia doesn't think he wants to be followed"

"Well I don't care if he doesn't, he is acting weird and I'm going to beat him up until he acts normal!"

Gajeel observed from the distance, drinking his usual, he could tell something was wrong, but it wasn't his business. He didn't know Natsu as well as the others, but he had experienced similar situations in his life and was aware that the Fire Dragon Slayer had more in his mind that he led everyone to believe. He made a point of not messing with people's private stuff and as far as he was concerned, he had no reason to care anyways. Levy sat down next to him.

"Hey short stuff, what's on your mind?"

"He is acting weird…I think someone should talk to him, don't you?"

"Yup, definitely someone should"

"Yeah… Why don't you go look for him?" She looked at him with her doe-eyed expression and blinked a couple of times.

"Er…someone else I mean"

"Oh come on, you can't tell me you're not even a little worried about him you Iron-hearted jerk!"

"Well that's your mistake for thinking me being part of this guild would automatically mean I actually care about anyone here"

Levy gave him a very angry look and puffed her cheeks, "Oh come on! You are probably more…experienced in all of this"

"Shrimp, the fact that I'm older doesn't mean I'm more experienced in what he is going through, Hell! I don't even know what's going on in that fire head of his half of the time"

Mira and Cana invited themselves to the conversation and sat across from Gajeel and Levy; he could sense this was a talk he was going to regret.

"Oi! You know you are the best choice to talk to him, you said yourself you went through the same rough stage!"

"Cana shut up you drunkard! This is the last time I'll trade information with you… It ain't worth the free beer"

"Gajeel if you know something you should say something about it, not just stay quiet, we are all family here"

"Mira you Demon woman… I don't really know ok?, we all deal with it in our own way, I just know that he will be more impulsive, his gut will get the best of him, it all depends on the situation"

"Well then it's settled, you are still the best person to talk to him; logically, if he is in bad shape he could react badly, and you are possibly one of the few people that have a bit of knowledge and can take a hit from him any day of the week, so off you go …"

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times to respond but he couldn't manage to get a word out, this happened more often lately whenever he got into an argument with Levy "You're smart little shrimp, aren't ya?... Fine, I'll finish my beer and I'll pay him a visit, can't promise I won't make it worst by beating the shit out of him"

"All I'm asking is for you to try, and if while doing it you could avoid getting into a fight with him I would appreciate it"

"I said no promises Shrimp…"

Gray and Juvia joined them shortly after; Levy was quiet and her mind seemed to be somewhere else. Cana noticed Levy's lost expression and took a gulp of her beer before inquiring "What's on your mind Lev?"

"Am… does someone else thinks Natsu was… smiling weirdly?"

"I know… I mean it looks like his regular smile but there's something off about it right?"

Mira rubbed her chin and sighed, "Well, I don't know about that… there's only a handful of times that we've seen him upset about something"

Gray laughed about the comment "What do you mean! He is the most short temper person we know! He gets upset every time we run out of chicken wings!"

Mira shook her head "Geez… and we though he was dense… No silly, I mean UPSET as is sad about something, not angry. The Natsu we love has a short fuse, sure… he seems to wear his feelings as a second skin, but I wonder…"

They all observed waiting for her to finish "has he ever said he is not fine?" they all took a moment to consider that. "Sure… there was that time where… am…" Gray's eyes widen while he tried to fill the blanks but nothing came to mind.

"This conversation is getting to touchy-feely… I'm going to see Salamander" and with that, Gajeel left the table and got on his way to Natsu's house.

* * *

Fukuro pointed at the black owl on her hand "But Lucy, are you ready to see your worst nightmare become true? What's it going to be? A lifetime of happiness with me knowing your pet lizard is alive… somewhere, or a lifetime of regret and loneliness caused by your childish selfishness?"

His comment took Lucy by surprise; it seemed that knowing someone for your entire life didn't mean you really knew whom they were. This man who she was so fond of had just threatened her best friend, the person who she cared about the most, and she felt fire in the pit of her stomach.

"How dare you?! Why should I believe anything you say? You are nothing more than a liar; you seem to be underestimating me a bit, who says I need to be rescued?" she smirked at him with confidence before reaching for her belt. She took one of her keys "Open Gate of the Goat! Capricorn!" and then nothing, Lucy was baffled and yelled once more "Open Gate of the Goat! Capricorn!"

"This is fun Lulu!" He clapped his hands rapidly and smiled "Should we try another one? After all you still have 9 more keys to try" he tilted his head and rested his arm on the back of the chair.

"What's happening? Why…why isn't it working? What did you do!" tears were now running nonstop.

"Neat trick right!? Well you see it's not that hard, you can't and won't be able to use magic until I release you from the seal, and I won't do it unless you are committed to this. It's a curious little thing; it gives me free access to your deepest hopes and dreams, your wishes and your fears, and allows me to make them real"

"I don't believe you, there's no magic like that, you can't possibly…" tears started falling down her face at an even faster rate. Even when she had been alone, having her spirits, her friends, gave her comfort, but now she felt helpless.

"Oh well looks like we are up for a demonstration!" His grin widen in a way that sent shivers down her spine. The shadow under his eyes, his wicked smile and his gesture, it almost reminded her of a demon more than a man "Now just remember Lulu, this will all be on you. Alicia! Please join us"

"Fukuro just stop! She has nothing to do with this, I know you, and you are not this person!" she tried to appeal to his good nature, somewhere in her head she still wanted to believe he was just lost, something had gotten ahold of him, and she could bring him back.

"That, dear Lucy is where you are wrong, this is who I am, this is who I've always been, who my parents were, and their parents before them, do you think all this family fortune, this very house was built on anything else but power? Don't be naive"

Alicia walked into the room looking as perfect as always, her wrinkle free uniform, her hair in a perfect bun, and gentle demeanor "Yes Tatsuma-sama, how can I be of service?"

"Please tell Lucy how long you've been at my family's service"

"Oh for as long as I can remember, I was born here, my family has served the Tatsuma family for centuries"

"Dear Alicia, can you tell Lucy how my family has helped you over time?"

Alicia turned to look at him confused but as always, she followed her orders "I owe them my life ma'am. After my father died, my mother lost her mind and she… she wasn't herself… they took care of her until her last breath, and they accepted me; they gave me a home and allowed me to raise my family here… I'll never be able to repay them for their kindness" Her eyes started watering; Fukuro held her hand as to comfort her.

Lucy gasped for air and sobbed, she could sense this was not going to end well; there was a particular quality about the air in the room, almost as if it was getting ticker and toxic.

"Dear Alicia, I know your biggest fear has always been to lose your mind, your very self, just like your mother did… to leave your children with the same picture of emptiness that your mother left you with"

Alicia gasp at the realization of what was about to happen, by instinct, she pulled away her hand from Fukuro's grasp and rubbed it, as if she hoped that would remove the tingling feeling on her skin. Lucy felt all hope disappear at that very moment, her chest felt heavy and the fear started invading her heart "Don't do it, please stop… just stop"

"Alicia, I promise I'll take care of you, and your family until my last breath… you've been of great service, and I'll always be thankful for all the times you cared for me…"

It was all over in a second; the spark in her eyes went away, and her face started twitching, she began drooling a bit, and Fukuro took his silk handkerchief to wipe Alicia's face, then gently grabbed her hands and laid them on her lap.

Lucy started shaking, she stared at Alicia for the longest time, trying to understand how to take it back, how to make her wake up, but it was useless.

"Why?"

"You needed prove…"

"Take it back! Bring her back! She has nothing to do with this"

"No"

"No?!"

"I want you to remember this… If I was able to do this to someone I love, to the one person who took care of me since my cursed stars landed me in this house, the one that held me when I cried and loved me more than my own mother!… Imagine what I would do to someone I really… really want to hurt"

"I'm not afraid of you… hurt me all you want, you still won't be able to defeat us"

"I never said I wanted to hurt you. So, now let's talk, shall we?"

"If you don't want to hurt me then what do you want?"

"I want you Lulu, I've always loved you"

"My love is something that can't be bought; if you knew me at all you would know this…"

"You'll learn to love me, I know you will. The stakes are too high for you not to try"

"What… what do you mean?"

"Oh Lu, I've told you… I can see through you. Your worst nightmare is, although it pains me to say, is to see that idiotic pink haired man-child of yours die, to lose him forever, and if you don't do what I ask Lucy dear, I'll make sure what you've imagined is multiplied by a thousand"

"Natsu…"

"Oh yes… I see it clearly… the dark fog… the death of you friends and the rivers of blood streaming down Magnolia. The knight in shining armor or the Dragon in scales rather, running towards danger to be the savior he has always been… Am I getting close?"

"No…"

"Oh yes, running to a certain death and leaving nothing but his own blood behind"

The pain that went through Lucy's body was unspeakable, although it wasn't physical, but more like the one left behind after your spirit breaks apart and tears your soul and heart to pieces.

* * *

Gajeel cursed all the way to Natsu's house, hands in his pocket, hunching his back, kicking every rock on the way.

"Sure! What a fucking great idea this is! Let's convince Salamander his life is anything else than worthless…Why do I get to babysit him? Fucking runt… I don't see Mira offering to do it, that woman scares the shit out of half the guild…"

He kept mumbling to himself while he got closer to Natsu's house, but his high skilled dragon senses picked up on something weird. He heard light growling, he sensed high heat, and his nose picked up a smell, it was Natsu but something else was there with him. The energy emanating from the place gave him goosebumps, and the first think he thought was that for some reason Natsu was in trouble.

He rushed to the door and slammed it open, but stopped right at the entrance. No one else was there, just Natsu lying on his bed, a dark aura emanating from his limp body, and it was so strong that caused Gajeel to take a step back.

Natsu was laying on his belly, making noticeable that all the left side from his neck down was covered with crimson scales; Gajeel followed the path with his eyes, getting a bit closer every time to inspect him further. His eyes reached his guild mate's hand that now had long sharp black claws.

He had seen Natsu lose it before, change in the middle of a fight, use Dragon force...this was nothing like that; this reminded him more of the time Natsu had almost drifted too far the time they fought his brother, the time he thought Lucy was gone. Gajeel would never admit to it, but the mere thought of it happening again sent shivers down his spine.

He called him as calmly as he could to avoid disturbing him "Salamander, man you need to wake up now" he thanked Mavis for Levy not being there to witness this. Gajeel kneeled next to Natsu and slowly got his hand closer to try to wake him, he wasn't even touching him and his hand was burning already, he was suddenly surprised the house wasn't on fire.

In a split second, everything went dark; he opened his eyes and blinked several times before realizing what was happening.

Natsu had him pinned to a tree; he was growling in a way that could only be described as savage and feral. Every time he tried to speak to him, Natsu would squeeze his neck harder, and suddenly with a swift move, his left claw had ripped through his skin, causing blood to trickle down his front.

It caught him by surprise, his skin was not easy to break; he used his metal scales and punched as hard as he could sending Natsu away.

Gajeel ran towards him before he stood, and didn't stop punching until he noticed there was no more resistance, he was glad it didn't go further, he wouldn't say it but he wasn't sure he could win with Natsu in his current state.

He sat next to Natsu and rested his arms on his knees, waiting for him to come back from it to determine if he was in his right mind.

Natsu woke up sore and confused, "What the hell!?"

"We need to talk"

Natsu looked annoyed "Why am I outside? Why is my face bleeding? And why the fuck are you here?"

"Like I said… we need to talk" Gajeel looked away and shook his head "Tsk…look, I thought they were overreacting, but you seriously need help"

"I don't need any help, especially from you metal head" Natsu was about to stand up and to leave, only for Gajeel to grab him by the shoulder and pulled him back "Let go Gajeel"

"I was wondering when all that heat was going to melt your brain! You could seriously hurt someone! Imagine if it was someone else that came to your house… would you be able to live knowing you hurt any of your friends?"

Natsu flinched at that comment, Gajeel didn't know why but the last statement he made stroke a cord. "Why are you here?"

"They thought I'd be able to help you regain some control… and I agree… I'm not sure what's going on with you man, but I'm sure as hell not the right person for you to talk to…we need to go back to the guild, but I won't take you there until I know it's safe for them to be around you"

Natsu was clueless about what they were talking about, he wasn't dumb, something had happened, he had done something he just didn't think it was that big of a deal "I don't need to talk to anyone, I'm fine, I'll deal with my own stuff"

"You are fine? When have you ever not been fine?"

"What's that supposed to mean lighting rod?!"

"Look it ain't my problem how you handle your shit with Bunny girl, but this is getting out of hand"

"OH that's rich coming from you! How's Levy doing?!"

"Tsk… Stay out of it. I'm capable of handling my own shit"

"Well that makes two of us!"

"HA! Yeah you are doing a hell of a job!" Gajeel tried to stand up, but as soon as he straighten himself up, he had to take his hand to his stomach as the sharp pain cursed through his body.

Natsu was about to respond with a snarky comment, but as soon as he pointed his finger to Gajeel he understood what had happened.

His arm was covered with crimson scales, he saw blood on his rival's chest and hand, and he immediately inspected his claws; they were still tainted and wet and he just stared at them in disbelieve. Natsu retrieved his hand and rubbed his arm up and down, as if he was hoping to take the scales away; this was not going to be a secret for long, he had lashed at his guild mate and nothing would fix that.

"Don't get all serious Salamander, this is not the first or last time we get into a fight" Gajeel laughed "Damn we are in better shape now than when Phantom Lord tried to take Bunny girl, that's for sure. It's sure as hell not the last time we hurt each other, you should take a look at yourself"

Natsu nodded in understanding but knew this was not the same, they constantly fought, there were cuts and bruises, but what had happened that day was pure hatred, he knew if he had been able to cut through Gajeel's thick skin, it meant he was aiming to kill. He tried to smile, he really did… that's something he could always manage to do; however, for some reason his lips were not responding as he commanded. He stayed in silence; there was nothing he could say to change what had happened


	5. Chapter 5

**CH5 Re written! More details added XD still didn't change the core story but I though adding some stuff to it would be a nice thing.**

 **SO, in case this come up, yeah, some stuff may be a bit OOC but I thought that since Fics are made to write different stories, that would be ok. ANYWAYS who's not an angst Junkie right?**

 **Thanks for all the ones who are following and favoring the story! You guys are the best, if you could R &R that would be great.**

 **-A-**

* * *

" **Chaos... by its very definition cannot be controlled. Once introduced, all order and intention is rendered useless. The outcome of chaos can never be predicted. The only certainty it brings... is the devastation it leaves in its wake."  
― **Emily Thorne - Revenge

* * *

"Did something like this ever happened to you Gajeel?" Natsu had relaxed a bit, and Gajeel could tell. He was sitting on the floor, his back hunched while staring at his hands, he was fiddling. The Iron Dragon Slayer acknowledged Natsu as a comrade, but the type of conversation he required was still way out of his comfort zone.

He stared at him for a few seconds and then gazed at the sky, his father had raised him to be tough; sharing was not something Dragons did well, they were hoarders, mythical beings of incredible strength. Gajeel was facing the decision to either be the helping hand or not. It came as a shock for him that the decision was not though at all _-Dammit… am I getting softer? This guild is fucking me up-_

"Tsk… ok we'll talk but don't think for a split second that this means we have now that type of relationship. I'm only doing this because those girls will have my head, Understood?"

"Black Steel Gajeel, The Iron Dragon Slayer and son of Metalicana is scared of a few girls, that's something"

Gajeel fisted his hand and smacked Natsu on the head "OI! Do you want my help or not?"

Natsu rolled his eyes and nodded while rubbing the growing bump on his head "Yeah, yeah, my bad"

The Iron Dragon slayer gazed at the sky once more and sighed "I was alone back then ya know?"

"We all were Gajeel… seven is a lucky number for most, but for us…"

"Yeah… fucking pops, if he had stayed for longer, I wouldn't have as many questions as I have now"

"Well, at least you were older, weren't you? Your memories are probably different than mine"

"Probably, but that doesn't mean I had more time with him dumbass. Anyways, when the change happened to me, I knew there was something crawling inside… it was eager to come out, and it was something… bad"

"Did your father ever mentioned something like this to you?"

"Nah, the bastard would have waited for me to do something stupid to laugh at my face" Natsu had always wondered how different their upbringings had been, he'd never met Metalicana, but he knew him and Gajeel were different, Natsu had always tried to make people smile, while Gajeel enjoyed making people fear him.

"How did you get passed it?"

"I trained, a lot, Dragon force became easier after that, it was probably when my senses got very sensitive too. You know I just forced it out and pushed through, but it wasn't easy, it became… problematic"

"Oh ok, sure, I get that"

"You have no fucking clue of what I'm talking about, you idiot. All your senses are heightened, you go crazy about everything, and I mean everything, anger, joy… passion"

Natsu nodded in agreement "Hmh I get that, I… noticed a few things I… well I guess I just didn't focus on them before". There was an awkward silence and then he continued.

"You could end up hurting someone you care about Salamander"

"D-did you?"

"Nah… I've never cared enough for someone to put them in danger" Natsu wanted to ask if he had kept himself from people to spare them from getting hurt, and if he was still doing it, but Gajeel could sense the conversation was getting deeper than what he wanted.

"Look, I know I said I went though it… but I'm not entirely sure that what happened back there is the same thing Salamander"

"OI! But you said…"

"Tsk… I know what I said! But that was nothing like what's happening to you, I'm not sure what that was… you didn't look like you were quite there. I think we need to tell the others"

"This is too much…" He felt so overwhelmed by everything, and he wondered if it would ever get better "I swear I'm ok now, c-can we go back to the guild?"

Gajeel nodded and they both stood up to make their way back. Natsu stayed quiet all the way to the guild, he assumed after Zeref's passing, all his legacy would follow, but he wasn't sure anymore. _-Maybe she shouldn't have saved me…-_

Back at the guild, the girls were sitting together talking about what could possibly be happening between Natsu and Lucy. They had always seemed to balance each other out; but lately the pair had felt out of sync.

Mira brought beers for everyone and sat down "I bet those two will get over their lovers quarrel in no time, they are just too perfect for each other!"

Cana was already tipsy and had no filter whatsoever "They need to get a room and just go at it, that would fix it!"

"Oh Cana, it's probably not like that. They care a lot about each other. but we don't really know how they feel, not reaaally"

"Juvia hopes Levy is wrong, Juvia wants Lucy to love Natsu so she will leave Gray-sama alone"

"I seriously don't think you have something to worry about Juvia" These words fell on empty ears, since Juvia kept mumbling to herself _-Love rival- Love rival- Love rival-_

Erza listened to everyone quietly while eating her strawberry cake, she took a bite and then she turned to Lisanna

"Lisanna what do you think?"

The young take over mage was started "Why does it matter?"

"You are probably the one that knows him the best, at least at an emotional level"

"Come on Erza, we've all known them since forever, and I… left for a long time"

Mira looked at her sister, remembering the type of relationship her sister and Natsu had, was always strange for her "She is right Liss, we all know Natsu well, but not everyone knows him like you do, you know?"

Lisanna thought about it for a minute, "I hope he does love her" The table got quiet; when Lissana came back from Edolas they all expected for tensions to arise at the guild. "I don't think he loved me, not really… he probably thinks he did"

"What makes you say that?"

"Hmm, it's not like he ever said it… but how could he Mira? I'm not saying he is not capable of it, he loves the guild, he knows family love… he missed his father; so, he searched for something to fill that emptiness, but when it comes to romantic love…"

They all took a moment to consider this, Natsu didn't have a standard to go from, he didn't remember his birth parents not their relationship, Igneel was alone, when Makarov found him he brought a child to a place filled with other kids who were also alone.

"Well I hardly consider not having a strong example as an excuse to not know how to work a relationship" Erza took another bite of her cake.

"Amm… weeeell… If you think about it, none of us have had a successful relationship… ever" Levy's words sank in quickly making everyone realized they were in no position to judge the Fire Dragon Slayer; when it came to relationships, most of them were clueless, sure, not as much as he was, but still.

"Anyways! As I said, he probably thinks he did love me, it really seems when I went away part of him followed… I think he is a bit more guarded now, although it may not seem like it. If he loves her, he won't admit it that easily, he was been through a lot you know?"

Everyone agreed with Lisanna; between thinking she was dead, the enemies he had faced and the battles he fought; dealing with the loss of Igneel after searching for such a long time, and not only that but witnessing his last breath… no one had really thought about how he dealt with all of it. Who would ever think the man who held the spirit of the guild in his smile would ever struggle which such negative emotions? Of course, the fact that he was not a deep person at all, didn't help. They were taken out of their thoughts when the guild doors opened, and a strange woman walked inside.

"Hi! I'm looking for Natsu Dragneel" she said politely and smiled at the group.

"Well, he ain't here right now, what is your business with him?" Cana slammed her hand above her barrel and gave the woman a stern look.

"Cana, please keep it down, there's no reason to be rude. What can we help you with Ms… Sorry, I didn't catch your name" Mira gave the woman her usual sweet smile.

"Well, I didn't give one girly… and my business with him is my own, so… where is he?"

The fairy tail females were not a group someone would mess with, aside from having a couple of S class mages they, were all extremely short tempered, and no one, and I mean NO ONE would ever dared to speak that way to them, including their own comrades. The aura that started emanating from the fairy tail women was so strong, that the few man that were at the guild searched for shelter behind the counter of the guild hall.

"Oh for Mavis sake! This is how we go, brace yourself guys!"

"Mavis! We'll join you soon!"

"HEY STOP USING ME AS A SHIELD DROY!"

The boys were currently saying their prayers and begging for a miracle. They were surprised, the redheaded beauty with mile long legs didn't seemed to be scared of the group.

"Oh I see! these are the dreadful protective sisters, so cute! Fine I'll play along then, wouldn't want to be crushed by the power of Titania's fist, or annihilated by MiraJane's Satan Soul. I'm-"

The door opened to reveal a beat-up pair on Dragon slayers. Natsu stopped on his tracks and mumbled something while rubbing his forehead with his right hand. He fisted his hands and stomped angrily.

"Nope! Grab your shit; you are leaving right this second copper head!" Natsu grabbed her arm while pulling her to the door.

"Hey calm down you Lizard! You are hurting me! I'm just here to hand you your reward!" She tried to pull from his grip, but it was useless; his strength was way above hers.

"Keep your fucking reward and use it to go back to whatever corner of hell you came out from, move it Merryl!" She pulled again and was able to wiggle her way out of his grip causing her to land on her behind.

Erza slammed Natsu's head against the floor, of course she didn't like the newcomer, however, Natsu's behavior was not something she would tolerate "That is no way to treat visitors; Am I making myself clear?"

"Aaaarg…Aye sir"

There was a moment of silence; sure, they had all seen him upset, but this looked weird for them. Natsu would never be that violent with someone without a reason, and he was not one to use his strength against a weak woman.

Merryl smirked, she put both hands on her hips, "Oh my, and I was thinking about extending my visit just to get the pleasure of your company. I missed our little talks darling" she laughed causing him to hiss angrily.

"Whatever psycho! Just stay the hell away from me, I'm serious" everyone could tell by the room temperature that he was not happy about her presence; of course, if they were smarter, they had kept their comments to themselves but unfortunately for Natsu, this wasn't the case.

Natsu got a beer and sat down with some of his friends; he would turn from time to time to observe her with resentment.

"Natsu this is not how a man behaves!"

"Yeah, you were pretty rough with her, Natsu"

He slammed his beer on the table "Look, you don't know what you are talking about, so just shut it! She's bad news"

Merryl noticed he was looking and decided to have her own fun, she swayed her hips all the way to the bar and leaned giving the Dragon Slayer a good view of her back, he immediately turned away with a blush making her giggle.

She invited herself to the spot where the girls were sitting now and asked for a beer. The girls were not comfortable with her presence, but their curiosity was bigger than their annoyance. Natsu had the feeling that was not going to go his way and was deciding on whether to interrupt their conversation or not.

Bickslow and his babies soon arrived at the table "Well, she seems interesting; she's got a nice ass"

The Fire Dragon Slayer ignored his comment, but his cheeks became as pink as his hair when he remembered the moment when he almost caved to her obvious charms. This didn't go unnoticed by Bickslow who of course, decided to take advantage of the moment.

"What _really_ happened between you two?"

"Nothing happened you freak"

"Sure… nothing happened…"

Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest and looked up "Well you may need to clarify, that ain't what she's telling them"

Natsu slowly turned his head to where the female mages were, afraid to what he was going to find, they were all paying too much attention to Merryl's words. Natsu panicked, that woman was the devil for sure. He stood up quickly and ran there slamming his hand on the table.

"Yo, I don't know what she said but it's probably just a bunch of lies! N-nothing happened, it was all very innocent and I s-stopped right away!"

Everyone was confused now; Gajeel put his hand on Natsu's shoulder and explained, "Salamander… I really wish you had let me finish; she was telling them that you were upset because her mission was to keep you in the woods for some time"

He turned white as paper, the girls were so surprised that their jaws almost hit the table, and were staring at him now. The girls stared at each other before Lisanna asked the obvious question "W-what exactly did you stop? Natsu! D-d-did you…"

"I… nm…w-wait! I…" There were no words _-Fuck! Think you idiot! Say something, anything! -_

Merryl burst into laughter and put her arm around Natsu, "Well, I'm not one to kiss and tell, but then again I'm also not one to make out and run away".

Natsu removed her arm and covered his face with one hand; he look through his fingers to find Erza giving him a deadly stare.

"N-Natsu… did you desecrated this poor woman?"

"NO NO NO… w-wait a minute!" Erza pulled her sword and pointed it at Natsu "You shall be held responsible!"

"Oh Titania! Don't worry, his virtue is still intact… it wouldn't if it had been up to me, that's for sure" She licked her lips and laugh again "Although maybe darling, you were just not… up for the task"

"GEEZ just go back to the fucking hell hole you crawled out from!" He felt his pulse accelerating, as the room temperature rose again; he felt his hand fisting without his consent and he knew he needed to redirect the situation before things got out of control.

Lisanna noticed the change and immediately intervened "Ok on second thought, what really happened out there? You just admitted that your mission was to keep him away; I'd like to know more about that"

Natsu was pulled out his thoughts, he looked at his childhood friend and gave her a small nod while silently thanking her for the diversion.

"Well, is not that different to what you guys do, I got an assignment, took it and ran with it; a girl's got to make her money somehow"

"Where did the assignment came from?" Mira suddenly asked.

"It didn't have much information, I just had to send a letter back for them to send both rewards, which I did, and mine was less of course since it only lasted a month instead of the time that was originally intended"

Natsu thought the answer was insufficient but was calmer now that people had stopped asking about their little rendezvous; that was of course until Elfman pitched in.

"A man doesn't run away from any situation Natsu! A real man doesn't abandon a woman in the woods"

His eyes twitched a bit thinking on how close he had been of getting his way. He took a deep breath, "Fine! Yes, we kissed but that was it!"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a chaste kiss kiddo"

"It was just a kiss Merryl!"

"I remember a few brushes here and there… you have very warm hands"

"COULD YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

"You also unbuttoned my shirt, you sneaky lizard"

"OI! YOU DID THAT YOURSELF!"

Happy who had been quiet during this whole interaction was now covering his ears "Oh no! They like each other! Natsu, you like Lucy! You can't be undressing other girls!"

"OK THAT'S ENOUGH!" he pointed his finger at the blue exceed "Happy shut it! No one was naked; I do not like Lucy" then he pointed his shaky finger at Merryl "AND I DEFINITELY DON'T LIKE HER! it was just a moment" he could feel himself losing it.

"Ok this has been… interesting, but we need to go" Gajeel grabbed Natsu by his collar "Erza, Gray, Mira; Natsu and I are going to train for a bit and we may need some help" Gajeel gave them a certain look, they didn't know why but it seemed important for them to go.

They walked enough to get away from the populated area, it was all very suspicious, but they kept walking behind Gajeel until he stopped and sat on the floor.

"I thought we were going training, I'm ready to kick your ass, Flame-brain!"

"Bring it on Ice-Princess; let's see what you've got!"

Erza slammed both their heads together; Natsu seemed calm now and back to his usual habits. She turned to Gajeel.

"Spill it…"

"Well I'm not the one who should be doing the talking, I wasn't lying, we will train and I'm sure your help will come handy, but first you need to talk to your friend" he pointed at Natsu who tried to avoid their eyes.

Natsu sighed and sat on the dirt crossing his legs; they could tell he was nervous because he was fiddling, a little habit he had picked up from his blonde partner. They followed his lead when he sat down, he wasn't sure on where to start, but he decided to go with the first thing that had been bothering him.

"Ahem… so, ok… I guess I haven't been all that… well"

"Are you sick? Maybe you should go see Porlyusica, you usually don't get sick"

"Er… no, I'm not sick… I haven't been sleeping well"

"Oh… well is there so…" Natsu raised his hand to make her stop talking.

"Just… I need a minute ok?" He rubbed his face, why was it so hard to just tell them what was bothering him? "I've been having this dream; it started happening more often every time. I think it's been around 2 months now…"

He hesitated a bit before continuing, "I'm in Lucy's apartment, we are laughing and having fun you know? Just as usual… I… put my hand on her face and brush her hair behind her ear, and we just…you know, we are together"

You would think they wouldn't be surprised to hear he had dreams about Lucy, however as dense as he was, they actually were, not only that but he admitting to it was shocking.

He took a deep breath, "Anyways, this part gets confusing… it all goes black for a second and then I lose all control, I can see what I'm doing but I c-can't stop my body… I try, I really do…" they could hear his shaky voice during the last part, it was so full of pain and regret.

He didn't want to continue, however he remembered what happened earlier that day, what he'd done to Gajeel, he knew he didn't have a choice, he couldn't let that happen again. His guild was his family, they had been together through thick and thin; he couldn't allow himself to hurt them.

"I don't even look like myself… I'm covered in red scales… black claws and fire around me… just like when Zeref _-my brother –_ and I…" All eyes were on him, he wasn't looking at them, but he felt their stares "I'm... I'm tearing her limb by limb… her blood is everywhere, I'm covered by it… elbow deep in her blood… it's on my face too, even dripping from my mouth… and then I gain control again but it's too late, just too fucking late… she is dead, I killed her"

A single tear fell off his face, he was shaking in anger; he hated himself so much after every dream. Erza walked towards him, and he clenched his fists and lowered his face to wait for what was about to happen, he deserved it, he had held this from them, he'd put them all in danger. He was almost looking forward to the ass kicking he was sure to receive.

She stopped and bit her lip; she kneeled right in front of him and covered him with her arms while stroking his head in a sisterly way. He was completely shocked, he didn't know what led to this and without thinking, he hugged her back and pressed his face to her neck.

After a short period of shock, Gray looked at them "Natsu…but, that's just a bad dream, you would never hurt her, or any of us, not like that anyways"

"I'm… not so sure, I think I could…"

"Come on you know that's not true" Erza squeezed him a bit against her armor.

"He is right… he could, and if we don't help him, I'm sure he will" They were shocked by Gajeel's statement.

Gray was beyond mad "Did you fucking hit your head idiot?!"

Gajeel stood up causing Gray to take a fighting stance, thinking this was like any other time. His eyes went from Gray to Natsu, and then he removed his coat. They could see this bloody shirt ripped from the front, but once he removed it and they were able to see the extend of the damage they were out of words.

"Gajeel!" Juvia ran to his side; she turned to give Natsu a dirty look and noticed he was facing the other way clenching his fists.

"Oi Juvia, I'm fine… stop pouting"

Erza got closer to Natsu, but kept a bit of distance between them "Explain"

"I… can't"

"What do you mean you can't Natsu?"

"I… don't remember" he felt so stupid saying that, how could he do such a thing and forget about it.

Gajeel put his clothes back on "I went to look for him as we agreed, I thought something had happened to him and that's when I saw it… covered in scales and all. I didn't even notice he was awake until I was pinned to the three; but I could tell by his eyes he wasn't quite there"

"What did you do?"

"I punched him until he was knocked out… it took some time, I had to be quick"

"I see… Natsu…"

"Don't Erza… " He took a deep breath, he was still shaking but he manage to turn around and give them a big smile "It'll be ok, Gajeel and I are going to train and I'll handle this… whatever it is"

They all nodded and agreed to help with the training, however their concern grew when they saw that smile. Natsu was strong, resilient, and loyal; he would bring them up with his relaxed demeanor, but the feeling that he was not really telling how he felt made them feel guilty. They'd never ask, when Lisanna died, when he came back a year after Igneel's death, he smiled and that was good enough for them.

The days went by as normal as they could be in this situation; Erza, Gray, Mira, and Gajeel decided after round one that they needed more support for the training, but agreed that it was too dangerous to tell everyone.

Levy was brought in to support Freed with runes for contention, but nothing more, Gajeel refused to expose her to it despite of her stubbornness; the Raijinshu (The Thunder God's Tribe), and Elfman assisted with the training sessions. The rest of the members were simply told they were training for S-Class.

Of course, Erza had to loop Makarov; she was now in charge of giving all the information relevant to their progress and their status.

Makarov was worried about his children, it pained him to know this had been happening under his nose.

He remembered the day he was told about it all, and he flinched at the promise Natsu had forced him to make

" _For how long has this been happening?"_

" _Gramps…"_

" _For how long?'_

" _O-over two months"_

" _Why would you keep such a thing from me, brat!?"_

" _I thought I would be ok! I swear! I didn't know how bad it was until Gajeel…"_

" _Fine… Erza I assumed you will oversee the training program?"_

" _Yes, Master"_

" _I want you to write it down, look at it and make it ten times harder… we are not taking any chances"_

" _Yes, Master" Makarov sighed "Leave at once, the sooner we start, the better"_

" _Gramps… can I have a word with you?" Natsu never asked, he would barge in and demand what he wanted, knowing Makarov had a soft spot for him. He stared at Natsu, the person standing in front of him was no child, he was a grown man, and his eyes showed seriousness, something he rarely got to see from his reckless child._

" _Leave us" Everyone nodded and left the room leaving Natsu and Makarov, the tension in the room was rising rapidly when Natsu spoke._

" _I need you to promise me something" Makarov huffed "And you think you are in a position to demand child? You withheld this from me!"_

 _Natsu hissed and stared at him "Listen, I ain't joking here. I need you to promise me something and I won't leave this room until you do"_

" _Speak"_

" _I… if I go mad… If I lose myself… You need to…"_

" _You won't, we'll make sure of it"_

" _Gramps…" Makarov saw Natsu's eyes watering and it broke his heart a bit "Please just… just promise you will make sure I can't hurt anyone"_

" _What are you asking me to do Natsu?"_

" _Kill me if you need to…if it stops me from hurting them, from hurting her…"_

" _Do you understand what you are asking me to do?"_

" _I am… but I need you to understand something, IF I go mad… and I hurt any of them, and for some reason I come back from it… I won't forgive myself, if I do something like that then I won't want to live anyways. I can't go through this, I saw what this did to Elfman and Mira, and I just can't, I won't"_

" _Natsu!"_

" _JUST PROMISE GRAMPS"_

" _I… promise"_

He sat down on a table in the back thinking about the promise, he loved each and every single one of his children and thinking about ending one of them brought pain to his old soul. He had a few beers to get his mind off the current events, when he noticed Fairy Tail's most recent visitor chatting with Lisanna and Kinana who were covering the bar while Mira was gone.

"So Merryl, where are you from" Lisanna asked.

"Oh… Nowhere and everywhere you know?"

"But you're a wizard too right? You said you took a mission from your guild's request board, what guild are you from?"

"It's a really small one, nothing compared to Fairy Tail really, i-it's not a magic guild, we perform a variety of other services. It's boring really, even our guild mark is boring"

Kinana was curious about it and asked "How boring can it be? What it is?"

"Oh… it's just a silly owl"

Makarov's eyes widen in surprise; he had a bad feeling about her from the start, but right night he found himself wishing his old age was making him paranoid. He laid his beer down and stood up.

"Merryl, could you please join me in the back office"

Merryl hadn't even noticed he was there until he spoke; she felt shivers down her spine and gulped but still followed him behind the dark wooden door.

Makarov sat down behind the desk; he put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands.

"Show me…"

"Well I heard you were a pervert but seriously…"

"This is not a request child, it's a demand… show me"

"Master Makarov, I hardly think that's necessary, I mean it's just a regular guild mark"

"You are in my house, you are staying under my roof, believe me when I tell you, there's no one left alive that has tried to mess with my children"

Merryl was scared; this was not the same man she had seen drinking and dancing in the guildhall, this was a man who had no fear, and that would shred her to pieces in a split second.

"Look, you are misunderstanding this situation, I never meant to…"

"You are going to stop lying to me right now child, because if I'm right, that is not a guild mark at all"

Merryl turned her face to the side; her shaky finger started undoing her buttons while her lip trembled. She slowly finished opening her shirt exposing the mark below her breast, a black owl.

"You brought a dark curse near my children! This is forbidden magic! You will regret the day you entered this guild Ms. Marlone, mark my words"

Makarov got a communication lacrima from his desk, but Merryl stopped his hand.

"Wait! This isn't mine, I'm not the bearer! Even if you get rid of me it won't solve anything, both of them will still be in danger, there's nothing we can do!"

Makarov laid the lacrima down and looked at her with an inquisitive look "both?"

"It was my job to get him away, he needed time to convince her, she is necessary for him to carry on with his family's legacy, a Celestial wizard, it had to be her, at any cost…"

He opened his drawers and got a fancy piece of paper from it, it had a broken wax seal and a pink ribbon; he laid it down and pointed his finger to it.

"So, this is no coincidence"

The paper was inscribed with beautiful golden foil and it read, "We are pleased to invite you to the celebration of Fukuro Tatsuma and Lucy Heartfilia's wedding. The event will take place is the Tatsuma manor at 8:30 evening on December 31st"


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey y'all! so here's Ch 6 re written...SO... I actually added something this time, not only details and I am sorry (Nope... not really) but I couldn't help myself! When I was writing Ch 20 (you know which scene I mean once you read this) I though about this and I have a plan on where this is going to lead, so IF you are just starting to read this story, keep reading and forget I said anything, IF you are re reading, the new added scene and the one in Ch 20 will make a bunch of sense in a couple more chapters XD, again thank you guys so much for reading, please don't forget to R &R I love getting messages.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.**

 **\- Ernest Hemingway -**

* * *

Lucy could feel winter getting stronger; the sky was lighter now, and the cold permeated through her window giving her goosebumps, she observed the leaves dying, slowly changing to brownish colors until they fell and cover the ground.

She had been an obligated guest in the manor for almost two months now, and oh… how had things change in that time. She hadn't lost her will yet, but the sadness that invaded her heart was sometimes too much to bare; not only was she away from her family and friends, but the image that she had constructed around her old friend was now long gone and replaced by the one of a heartless monster.

Lucy was of course, treated like a queen in the manor, however she was far from free… a princess in shackles, or locked in a tower like in those kid stories her mother avoided reading to her, because "her little girl didn't need a man to rescue her"; she felt ashamed… if only her mother knew how many times Natsu had to rescue her before.

She missed him so much; during this cold weather she could picture them sitting on her couch playing cards. She would pretend to be annoyed by his presence, but she would still snuggle to take advantage of his natural body heat, and he would let her because… she didn't know… maybe because that's the type of person he was, maybe because it was her… maybe-maybe-maybe.

She thought about her situation and knew that this time, she couldn't allow herself to be the princess, not if she wanted to protect him. Lucy's mind drifted away while observing the wind swing the fallen leaves from side to side, she remembered the conversation with Fukuro, and the house rules that were never to be broken if she was hoping to avoid the consequences.

" _Now that you will be staying here, there are some things I must ask of you Lulu"_

 _She still had tiers on her eyes and couldn't avoid staring at Alice; she took a deep breath and was able to find her voice "You want to ask me for something? You've taken my ability to choose, what else can you ask for?"_

" _I know you are angry now, but with time you'll understand I am the only one that's worthy of you"_

 _She almost laughed at him, worthy wasn't a word she would use to describe him at this point "Let's get something straight…I'm here because you are forcing me to be here, you are not even close to being worthy"_

" _But he is? Really… he is a dumb, immature, reckless, insensitive, and destructive prick! He is not from noble blood, he is nothing! And still… your biggest fear is to lose that piece of trash…"_

" _Don't you dare speak of him like that! You are not even half the man he is!" It all happened in a second… He stood up and kicked her chair to the floor causing her to hit her head; she hissed from pain, but she couldn't focus on that… no, not when she was having trouble breathing._

 _His hands circled her neck and squeezed tightly, bruising her porcelain skin; she grabbed his wrists trying to remove him, but it was no use, he was using their position to overpower her and she couldn't lift her legs to kick him due to the chair. Lucy's sight grew darker by the second, and only then did he release the grip on of hand to press his fingers painfully against her chin._

" _You will be allowed to leave the property whenever you want, but you will stay inside the city and I'll need to know where you are all the time. Once I feel you have a real commitment to this, I will allow you to use magic again, I must warn you, this will change back if I get a bit suspicious. You will always hold my hand in public, you will look happy, you will love me. There's no frowning in public, I don't like the gossip that comes with it"_

 _He let go of her and stood up; Lucy was coughing and holding her neck, and still she managed to respond with the snarkiest tone possible while still catching her breath "… anything… else? Basically…ah… I have to pretend to be happy… every day for the rest of my life… am I… missing something?"_

" _I don't want you to pretend Lulu… What type of Monster do you think I am? I want you to be happy, and I know you will only be happy with me, even if you can't see it yet"_

 _She shook her head and tried to avoid the tears building in the corners of her eyes "I won't be happy… and there's nothing you can do to change that… you don't love me, if you really did you wouldn't be doing this"_

" _Let's agree to disagree, I believe the only reason I'm capable of doing this, of protecting you from the world, and yourself… is because of how much I love you… I hope you are able to see that someday"_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, "Hearthfilia-sama, breakfast is ready, Tatsuma-sama wants to know if you'll join him this morning"

"Of course" she smiled, "Please tell him I'll be downstairs shortly". She walked to her dressing room, and once again looked at the long line of puffy dresses she had avoided for so many years; she had gotten used to the stiffness and awkwardness once more, although the thought that this was once again her life still made her heart ache.

She ran her fingers through the fabric until she stopped on a sky-blue dress with a long sleeve; it had a white lace around her waist, and the ankle length skirt was embroidered with a beautiful floral pattern. She looked at herself in the mirror while fixing her hair up; she had started doing it automatically after he had mentioned several times how he preferred her hair like that. Lucy didn't have a desire to please him, but without realizing she had adjusted small things here and there, just as she had done with her father in the past.

One last look in the mirror, she thought to herself she did look a lot like her mother… the difference being her mother was braver than what she could possibly be. She walked down the stairs and joined her captor for breakfast.

"You look lovely this morning dear"

Lucy smiled lovingly "You've clearly not seen me right when I wake up, but I appreciate the sentiment"

The comment made him frown a bit "Well dear… you've made very clear you wish to keep your own room until after the wedding, although I don't see the purpose for it. We are getting married anyways so there's really no purpose in waiting"

She cradled his hand between hers "I'm sure you know why I want this, right? this started in the least traditional possible way, so there's nothing wrong with doing things the right way until it's official"

"Of course not, whatever you need… but you've never been keen on tradition Lu…"

For the first time in two months she gave him a stern look "It's what my parents… what my mother would have wanted Fukuro, anything else you would like to discuss?" She was putting her foot down, there was no room for discussion and he knew it; he even appreciated the fact she was slowly going back to her stubborn self.

Fukuro smiled before taking a sip of his tea "Actually yes…after breakfast I wanted to show you something if you are up for it"

Lucy nodded in agreement; she was glad that he didn't plan to pursue the matter further. In some level she knew… if he wanted to force her into his bed, the only thing he had to do was make a thread against her loved ones, but he wouldn't… he wanted her to love him and that was a limit she thought he wouldn't cross.

She was getting to know the manor little bit little, the personal was strict while Fukuro was in the house, but she made them warm up to her and were more relaxed when he wasn't home. After all, who could refuse the lovely smile and charm of Lucky Lucy Heartfilia.

Fukuro took Lucy's hand right after breakfast and led her to the impressive imperial staircase that had stolen her breath not too long ago; for her it had lost its appeal as soon as she became a prisoner.

They went up the stairs and took the hall all the way to the last door; Lucy had tried to open it before when inspecting the manor and despite her many attempts it had remained locked.

The door had no knob or keyhole, just a golden plaque that had proven to be useless for Lucy; Fukuro held his hand to the plaque and with a small click the door opened for them. For a minute she was angry at all the time she had spent trying to pry the door open.

The suspicious door revealed a small staircase behind it; she walked all the way up wondering what she would find, surely the headquarters for a dark guild, a cult, or bodies hanging everywhere… but to her surprise, the staircase led to the biggest library she had ever seen which connected to a beautiful terrace that occupied half of the manor's construction space.

Her eyes drifted between thousands of books and for a few seconds she allowed herself to get excited; before she could go around wondering, Fukuro grabbed her arm and pulled her to the crystal door connecting to the terrace; Lucy mouth opened at the sight, the place was filled with gorgeous flowers from side to side; their colors more varied than a rainbow, all perfectly trimmed and cared for.

She brushed her fingers against the petals and was immediately greeted by the scent, it was a mix of sweet and anguish, although she wasn't sure why.

"What are these?"

"Flowers of course, I care for them personally…It's my… private collection"

Lucy tilted her head in confusion "What's special about them?"

"All flowers are special depending on how you use them Lulu… my mother knew that very well and she started this… special garden. I would ask for you to wash your hands when we go downstairs and avoid touching your face"

"Amm… why?" Fukuro smiled once more "My garden is temperamental"

"And what do they do?"

"They rest peacefully and grace us with their presence… for now…" She made a mental note to investigate each one of those flowers at a later time, they seemed too beautiful to be unfriendly.

He held her hand and led her to the middle of the terrace where there was some sort of cement bench. She could see the artisanal job in the delicate details; small thin golden lines covering each fold of the intricate design. It was evident that the geometrical perfection of such design had a meaning, but once she looked at the full picture, she was able to tell the purpose was much bigger that anything she could fathom.

The cold cement bench was engraved with two golden circles, one inside the other, which then separated in twelve boxes, just like a clock; Lucy recognized the symbols in those boxes right away… Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn,Aquarius and Pisces; she ran her fingers through the zodiacs feeling nostalgic at how much he missed her friends.

"Why are these here?"

"To be worshiped by our family, to witness our union and bless it with their celestial power"

"I don't understand" He sat on the large bench and brushed his fingers on the center of the circle, she hadn't noticed the bright golden star inside it, and within it, a dark precious stone in the form of black owl.

"There is something we need to talk about Lulu… I already said I've always loved you and I would do anything to have you, but there's also a reason why it needed to be you"

She could tell Fukuro was measuring his words carefully; she sat down and decided to give him space to clear his thoughts.

"So, my family's mark has been passed from generation to generation, it has been kept secret from the council for centuries, they are…uneducated simple people; they persecuted the bearers of this mark and made them disappear after it was labeled as forbidden".

Things finally started to make more sense to her as he explained; this made clear why she'd never heard of that type of magic, and the reason why she never knew he was a wizard.

"This mark can only pass to the first-born male from the family and only IF that child is born from the union of a bearer and a celestial wizard"

She was frozen solid, took a few seconds to digest the information and simply asked "Why?"

"You've come a long way Lulu, but that's information that will have to wait. Now this place you see" he said while pointing at the cement bench "will be our wedding bed, this is the place our first-born will be conceived and delivered"

Lucy was speechless, she hadn't thought about that yet; she felt so stupid, for some reason she assumed since he wouldn't force her into anything she could just stall and things would get fixed. Now she knew… he was patiently waiting because this deal had an expiration date, and in her head a countdown clock started ticking.

They walked back to the library and she inspected the place slowly with her eyes, still too baffled to go back to the topic they had just discussed "Is it ok if you leave that door unlocked? I'd love to have access to this part of the house; my friend Levy and I used to go book hunting, she would die if she saw this place"

He could sense some nostalgia in her voice, he took a deep breath and for a small second thought of how overwhelming this was for her.

"Of course, this is after all your house. However, you need to promise to behave… If I see anything suspicious…" She laid her hand on his cheek, "I know", he leaned over and pressed his lips against hers, she put her arms around his neck and responded by kissing him back.

Laxus took a deep breath before yelling "Lighting Dragon's Roar!", a golden circle sparking with energy appeared above his face and when he released his breath, a deathly looking stream of lightning was shot at his adversary's direction.

He was immediately followed by Gray's attack from the other end of the training field "Ice-Make: Hammer!" Both the huge hammer and the lighting struck the ground causing the earth to shake, but once the dust cleared, Natsu was nowhere to be found.

The scream came from above their heads "Fire-Dragon Crushing Fang!" Natsu lit his left hand hit Gray, causing him to slam against Laxus leaving a flurry of flames in their wake.

Training was going as expected; the barrier made by Freed and Levy was containing most of the attacks but even a great trap would have to be replaced every round, after all when some of the strongest mages in the guild were fighting no one could expect things to be quiet or safe.

Makarov walked to the training area and observed while Laxus, Gray and Natsu made the earth tremble.

"I'm all fired up! Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" a powerful torrent of flames rammed Gray and Laxus, causing the barrier to brake.

"Ok stop! Unless you are planning to burn down the forest, we need to take another break!" Levy yelled immediately to avoid the fight from continuing.

"Seriously flame-brain! Talking about over doing it…"

"Come on stripper! I'll show you what over doing it really means!"

"I thought I heard Levy ask for a break? Didn't she?" Makarov looked serious enough to cause them to quiet down. "It seems everything is going great, you look better"

"I feel great gramps! I'm ready!"

"That's great! We should have a little celebration; you have all worked hard. Let's go home for today, shall we?"

Makarov could tell Natsu was stronger than before, the magical power surrounding him was making more than one of his friends to take a step back when he trained and there were now only a handful of people that could keep up with him.

They all walked back to the guild and got the party started; Natsu finally looked in control, he hadn't had a nightmare since the training started, and he had become stronger, his senses had never been sharper, just like Gajeel said.

"Erza, Levy, Gajeel, Gray, I need to go over some council requests with you before we start"

Makarov walked with the smaller group to the basement, making sure they were far away from everyone else; he was sure the noise from the party will help muffle their voices, but he wasn't sure his children could keep things quiet.

"Gajeel… Would Natsu be able to hear us all the way over here?"

"He's gotten better… but I don't think he could unless we become extremely loud"

"Very well… please keep that in mind brats. I came across some delicate information that needs to be discussed"

Everyone looked at each other trying to guess what Makarov was going to explain, it wasn't common for the old man to look as worried as he did.

"You are all here for a very specific reason, and this is to control the situation before it explodes on our faces"

Erza was now a bit worried "What's going on?"

Makarov took a deep breath, and looked over his shoulder "You can come out now Merryl"

A shaky figure came out of one of the aisles, she wasn't sure how to explain or how to start this conversation, she could feel the looks piercing through her skull and knew this could go very bad for her if she wasn't careful.

"I… work for a man, he has this magic… it can be used for great bliss but also for incredible torture, the bearers of this magic only need to touch your skin once; after that they gain power over you, they can make your worst fear a reality and they use it to get what they want"

Erza waived her hand disregarding it as regular business, "Fine, so we'll find them and give them to the council! We've faced worse"

"In order for his family's legacy to continue, the bearer needs to have a first-born male he can pass the mark to" she hesitated a bit, and tried to think of any way out of this scenario but her mind was blank…

Merryl looked at Makarov who intervened before she could proceed, "what you are about to hear can't leave this room until we figure out a plan, we don't want to make things worse. You'll need to lie to your friends, to pretend things are great, it won't matter how you feel about it. If you can't promise this then the moment to leave is now, after this it will be too late"

The Master nodded at Merryl, she took a deep breath and continued.

"There are 2 types of mark, the mark can be there without being visible and that gives access to your deepest thoughts, a visible mark will also give him the ability to block your magic, making it impossible for you to fight back"

Gray looked at her digesting the information "So how much of a challenge will this be? Has this been reported yet?"

Makarov replied to his question "It's not just that simple, this family has deep connections and is very well positioned in society; most people don't know they possess magic"

"That's not all…the child needs to be blessed by a blood moon, and come from the union of a bearer… and… a Celestial Mage"

Everyone trembled at what this would mean, they finally understood the secrecy of it all, after all with Natsu barely being able to control himself, this could easily backfire.

"You are here for a reason. Erza you are probably one of the few Natsu listens to, Levy is Lucy's best friend, Gajeel, you've helped tremendously with Natsu getting control and you can also help hold him back if needed, and Gray whether you two kids like it or not, you are his best friend"

"We need to get Lucy! She possesses most of the golden keys, she is in great danger" Levy couldn't imagine leaving her friend alone in this situation and her eyes started watering.

"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do, I have the mark myself and I grew up seeing what it could do to people, it is too powerful"

"Merryl, if you please, show them your mark"

She pulled her shirt up revealing the owl below her breast.

Erza wasn't sure but that was very familiar "I've seen that before…"

Makarov got the guild's wedding invitation from his pocket and laid it in front of them. Once he turned it, they could see a golden owl engraved on it.

Levy's tears became more visible "When did you receive this Master?"

"About 3 days ago…"

"Why didn't you tell us about this? We haven't heard from her in 2 months and this is the only thing we get?" Levy was visibly annoyed, she would have kept on going but Makarov raised his hand to ask her to stop.

Merryl took a deep breath; she thought to herself this one might be the last she would be able to take.

"It was my job, to take Natsu away so she could be easier to handle. It's too late, she's been marked"

It took less than a second, before she could finish her thought; she was pinned to the wall, hands above her head covered in ice, feet frozen solid, a large metal sword slightly touching her neck causing a thin ruby red thread to drip slowly to her chest. Her eyes were wide open, she stuttered to try to complete a sentence but was immediately cut off.

"This was your plan all along?! To help a monster kidnap our friend! And then you came here, to make sure it went according to your plan! You must not know who we are" Gray was panting from anger.

Erza was still holding her sword against her when she heard Makarov's voice in the back, "this won't help, right now she is our only way of finding out more about this"

Gray and Erza took a step back removing her iced restrains.

Gajeel took a look at Levy, she was crying silently. He put his hand on her shoulder gently "Hey short-stuff, I think you should go outside now"

Levy turned to him with the angriest look he'd seen on her, she slapped his hand off her shoulder "You always think I can't handle anything, you didn't let me train, you don't want me to stay, I guess is pretty clear what you think of my abilities"

He thought about apologizing but how could he explain, he knew her, she wasn't going to stay out of it; he had discovered that when it came to Levy he had a natural ability to fall in verbal quicksand, and saying anything right now would be the equivalent of attempting to swim in it.

He was deathly scared about her getting hurt, he couldn't tell her that if something happened to her, then nothing would be able to bring him back from the dark pit his soul would fall into. He crossed his arms on his chest and faced front without saying a word.

Levy stood up and walked towards Merryl still with tears going down her face, her small fists were clenched tightly. To everyone's surprise, she suddenly took a swing at Merryl and punched her face so hard that it made the redhead fall on her ass. Levy tried to hide the pain this caused her hand and just shook it a bit.

Erza kept looking at the paper and then it hit her "We need to check all our mission papers for the last few months! I know where I've seen this, the request board!"

The general feeling in the room would be best described as falling off a cliff, a nod built up in everyone's stomachs; everyone had taken something out of the request board at some point, had any of them met their enemy before? had any of their friends been unknowingly marked?

* * *

It didn't take long for Lucy to make her way to the library, she ran her fingers through the thousands of books at her reach and for once she actually smiled; this was probably the only thing that could provide her with some peace, and maybe just maybe… she could get some inspiration out of one of the books.

She found several stories she wanted to keep, probably wouldn't help but she couldn't stop herself; she had found a very particular shelf that seem to have the oldest books, some referring to Dragons, some to Celestial magic, the council's creation and history, she had also got ahold of some botanic books to ease her curiosity on the "temperamental" flowers kept by Fukuro.

Lucy walked to the terrace which was still open, she was about to sit on the cement bed when she remembered its purpose, she flinched and frowned before decided she didn't mind standing; one thing she wanted more than anything was to get that thought of her head.

She opened the book and swept page by page looking at the pictures in order to match them to the precious flowers. Lucy finally found one she recognized, it was a white flower that looked like an upside down long flowy skirt with purple streaks inside; she brushed her fingers against its petals before she started reading "Ok, here we go…Datura contains lethal hallucinogens and poison making it illegal in many countries, it's deathly alkaloids are commonly used for murderous purposes" She widen her eyes before rubbing her hand on her skirt just to get rid of the sensation.

"Ok… ok… relax, just don't touch your face…" she kept looking though the pages when she found the next one, a delicate flower with red petals and black filaments, she decided against touching this time and continued with her reading "Oh ok so this is Opium… wait what?..." She had heard of it before of course, but didn't actually know it came from such a beautiful flower "Processed to make heroin? Highly addictive? Damn… what is he doing with these?"

There wasn't one flower in that place that was just meant to be beautiful… she had classified them in two categories, the ones meant to either throw quite a party or make someone mad which were Datura and Opium; and the ones meant to kill someone by stopping their heart, breathing, or both, which were Autumn Crocus, and A Trope Bella Dona

She went back into the library and sat in a purple duvet; every flower had a nasty purpose there and she had to be careful, just a small dose of that could cause trouble. Lucy decided to take her mind of it for a while and picked another very old book she had kept aside out of curiosity.

It was covered in a material that was extremely soft but scaly at the same time, she rubbed it with her fingers thinking she had felt that before somewhere, it didn't have a title on the cover but once she opened it all made sense… the first page had a drawing of an immense Dragon spreading his wings.

The cover had the same texture than Natsu's scarf with the difference that this was stiff and tight around the book making it visibly more like leather; she knew in that moment it was made with Dragon scales. She opened the book but to her surprise, the language was too old for her to understand; she decided to focus on the drawings that represented different dragons.

She got to a page that caught her attention, it had to be unfolded since the drawing was so large. On the left side there was a dark figure, it resembled a human with dark hair and all the colors around him were dull and opaque, as her eyes moved to the right, she noticed the colors got brighter; right in the middle of the drawing a village could be seen, devastated and burned, it looked as it there was people trying to fight; Lucy looked at the right side of the drawing to find a group of dragons summoning their magic, being led by a big, red, fire spitting Dragon.

She rubbed the picture with her thumb thinking about Natsu, wondering if this would be a picture of his father or if he would even be able to understand this book.

The next page was also Filled with what she could only consider gibberish, and the drawing was simple black and white design. The silhouette of a Dragon made with the black ink, its wings weren't spread but made as if it was cradling something represented by an inkless space "It looks like an egg" she got closer to the book to discover the small details in the ink, it was obviously handmade and you could even see the white thin lines representing the spacing of the Dragon scales. She noticed the inkless space of the egg wasn't fully empty, in a lighter grayish color she could see a shape inside the egg, it didn't look like a Dragon; it had no wings, and she could see two arms and legs.

"I should show this to Natsu!" suddenly her chest felt as if a grand piano was pressing it, she was scared of not being able to go back home, of never seeing him again; she knew he was strong, probably the strongest of all, but deep inside he was just a sweet boy that had been left alone for far too long.

She held the book to her chest and harden her stare, she felt a new sense of determination invading every sense of her body. Lucy knew then, she would do anything to save him, and life would eventually lead her to him because for her, he was home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok so! Ch 7 has been rewritten, story remains the same just added a few more details along with a more descriptive GaLe scene *Beware of the citrics* since I did Ch 24 and decided to write my first smut there I thought it was unfair to not at least try to do the same with this one.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"That if desperate times call for desperate measures, then I'm free to act as desperately as I wish."**  
 **― Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire**

* * *

There had never been a more focused group of mages going through paperwork at Fairy tail; every single mission request had been taken out of storage and laid on a table in the basement for its review; they were all separated by months and analyzed for variations and similarities.

After several hours, sore eyes and paper cuts, they had finally found most pieces of paper with a seal that resembled an owl, the missions varied in difficulty level, location, reward and seriousness.

From recovering a manuscript, containing a curse, helping rebuild a dam, plowing a field; you would have never guessed these were related. The list went on and on and dated at least 6 months before Lucy left Fairy tail.

"Ok, so this is it… these are all the mission that could have been in contact with that curse…" Levy looked nervous, she kept rearranging the pages and tapping them on the table as if to keep them straight.

"Ok, let's have it then Shrimp…"

Levy took a deep breath before going page by page and listing the names "Alzack and Bisca, Mest, Macao, Laxus…" she stopped and bit her lip "G-Gray and Juvia, Erza… G-Gajeel… and Natsu…"

There was silence in the room, Erza Gray and Gajeel were part of the list and it was impossible not to feel as if they were always caught in the middle of some's psychos plan.

"Well then, it doesn't seem that there was a set plan to curse other people… it looks random to me" Gray was trying to shake the awkwardness by focusing on the task in hand.

"Indeed, it does, but what it the plan was exactly that?"

"What? make it so random so we wouldn't suspect? If they wanted that they could have skipped the stupid owl seal, don't ya think?"

Another moment of silence allowed the people in the room to wonder what exactly could be used against them; they were strong, capable and determined… but fearless? everyone was afraid of something, but did they really know what scared them the most? This individual monologue went on in their minds until Levy's voice interrupted their train of thought.

"There's needs to be a pattern for this" she put the tip of her pen in her mouth and frowned, she was so focused you could almost see her thoughts. Gajeel couldn't help to think on how cute she looked.

Levy turned to him still pretty mad about before "What?!" Gajeel immediately turned around, "Don't think so hard shrimp, your tiny body could explode" She puffed her cheeks and turned her face away from him.

Levy had used one of the special pens to write on the air around them and make an extremely complicated map with all the theories and ideas, but none of them seem to match. They were at if for hours until suddenly while rearranging the papers something clicked inside Levy's head; she called everyone back to hear what they thought.

"This is a wild guess, but I think at first he was fishing, planning it out would had left a trail of some sort. We can't know for sure if any of them have been marked or not, but I really think at least Natsu is… "

Gray nodded in agreement "Well I would guess that much, it would make sense to break them apart in order to get Lucy"

"Not only that, look at the dates for these missions, the one Natsu went on was almost at the end of July"

While everyone was trying to connect the dots, Gajeel finally understood what had been happening "So that's around the time his nightmare started"

"Correct! I do think that is just a coincidence that Natsu's change stage overlapped with it, Gajeel you said yourself it was not the same as you've seen before, so this could be it"

"Well this is all very interesting, but it tells us nothing about how to solve it"

"Oi Ice Princess! At least Shrimp's got something, what have you discovered so far?"

"Shut it Gajeel! I'm trying… I just... Look we can't lie to him anymore, he is counting days until the 3-month deadline, he said he'll go bring her back if she is not here by then…"

"Gray is right Master, we need to find a way to talk to him" Erza couldn't bear to keep this from him anymore.

"No, we can't tell him the truth yet" They all stared back as if thinking they have heard wrong or this was an elaborate joke "he will storm out and put both in danger, we need to play along. We will tell him about Lucy's wedding, we may need to contain him, but it won't be as bad as if he knows she is in danger"

Everyone was baffled at Levy's comment, "He is our friend Levy! For how long do you expect us to keep this up?!" Erza was so angry at her, she slammed her fists on the table.

"This is going to break him Levy! He trusts us, don't you know that… he will think she left for good, only to find out we allowed this, and we lied to him in the process…"

"I'm not sure how long we will need to keep it up… I'll have to pay her a visit with the excuse of her wedding; I need you guys to wait to talk to him until then, that'll win me some time, whatever the case maybe he needs to think she is marrying out of love"

Gajeel felt it like a knife going down his throat "Are you out of your fucking mind! You will not put yourself in danger!"

She simply rolled his eyes and started picking her things from the table "Shrimp! I'm talking to you! This is not happening"

Levy slammed her things back on the table and looked at him with not only anger but deep pain "This is not your choice! I've made up my mind and last I check I didn't have to ask for your permission Gajeel"

"I don't care if your pride is bruised Levy! You can hate me all you want! I will fucking lock you in the basement with that red hair trash if I have to, do you understand?!" He slammed the chair before leaving and walked away cursing at everything on his way.

He walked for a while trying to clear his thoughts, "This is probably my fault, I keep trying to keep her away from danger and there she goes running towards it, stupid girl…" he growled in frustration "Why does she have to be so stubborn!"

Gajeel kicked his door open and was greeted by Lily which used his best sarcastic tone after looking at his friend's angry face "Did you have a good day?"

"Shut it cat… I'm not in the mood" The black exceed shook his head "If I stopped talking to you every time you were in a bad mood, then we would never talk"

"Mnm… Levy…" Lily made a small O with his mouth and nodded "Did you get her mad again?"

Gajeel pulled his hair "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS ASSUME I MADE HER MAD? SHRIMP GOT ME MAD! SHE IS AS STUBBORN AS SHE IS SMALL, I TELL YOU!"

"Right… ok, so why don't you cool off and go talk to her? You know you can't leave things like that" The dragon slayer mumbled something unintelligibly causing lily to take a deep breath "Fine, sulk all you want, I'm going with Happy and Carla"

After Lily left, Gajeel went up to his room to change when he heard a knock on the door; he sniffed once and recognized the scent right away, ink, paper, and flowers... he already knew who it was, his nose wouldn't lie to him.

He opened the door without looking and stated in a very serious tone "You know you just made it very easy for me to lock you up"

"Probably, but I didn't want things to end the way they did, and I know you are too much of a jerk to apologize first"

Gajeel moved from the door signaling her to come in and led her to the dark big couch from his living room.

"Hey shorty, do you want a beer?"

"I'm not a big drinker really, but I guess if there was ever a time"

He came back with two beer bottles and gave one to Levy; after he gulped half of it down, he asked without turning his face towards her "Did you finally change your mind?"

"I didn't, I still think we need to do something, but I understand putting myself in danger won't fix anything" it was obvious she was nervous by the way her fingers were removing the beer tag little by little.

He saw her there, wearing her short orange dress with the white bow on the top, her hair band holding her blue locks, she was wearing those long boots all the way to her tight…he felt his heart ache. Just to think about losing her was too much to bear.

"Of course, it wouldn't fix anything… you are so small people wouldn't even notice you are there shorty"

"Stupid Gajeel!" He laughed at her once more and she kept calling him stupid while punching his chest, this was what they did all the time and he felt some sort of comfort.

At some point they changed the topics and talked about nothing and everything, mostly Levy doing the talking and Gajeel nodding in understanding, he just loved listening to her talk about the things she liked with such passion, he had never felt like that about anything until he joined Fairy Tail.

"Shrimp is kind of late for you to walk back; you can stay here…If you want"

"Sure, I have some reading to catch up on, do you mind?

"Nah not at all, I'll stay on the couch, you can take my room, is the first door on the left. You can… get a shirt from my closet if you want to be more comfortable"

She nodded and went up the stairs until she found his room; it did not surprise her at all… A black steel door that led to one of the biggest beds she had seen, it had a bunch of blankets, covers and pillows above all in dark gray, black, and blue; in one corner there were hundreds of metal pieces and scraps, and on the other side of the room there were what seemed to be random items and papers; she wasn't surprised… Dragons were hoarders by nature, and she knew Natsu had something similar in his house.

What did surprise her was how many of those items she recognized, there was a piece of cloth that had once been a hair band that got torn apart during battle, a rubber band she had given him to tame his hair during a visit to the council, papers from some missions they had taken together… so many memories; she felt that warm feeling on her chest, this man was her fear and her excitement.

Levy walked to his closet and got one of the many black shirts he had there, it was enormous on her, but she was definitely more comfortable. She laid on his bed and smelled his pillow -Wow… when did I become such a creep…-

She got her book and got through a chapter before closing it and looking at the ceiling wondering what to do… no, there was no time for doubts, her best friend was in danger and she was not going to stand there and watch it happen. Levy considered the possibilities… she would take a train and go, and that could possibly be the last thing she did with her life…

She stood up with determination, if this is how things were ending, she was leaving with a bang, and if this was not the end but the beginning… she was starting with a firm step. She looked at her reflection in the middle and pucked her lips "Well… if there was ever a time… Toughen up Levy McGarden"

Levy turned on her heel with her hands fisted on her sides, she grabbed the rail and went downstairs with quiet feet until she was standing behind the couch where Gajeel was sleeping soundly; his messy hair covering his eyes, his shirt a bit lifted revealing his well-shaped abs.

Levy found a small space in the corner on the couch and sat down without saying a thing, she just held her legs to her chest and breathed heavily; he felt the weight shift on the couch and woke up confused and groggy. Gajeel was concerned to see Levy sitting there, he thought something had to be wrong.

He looked up to see her looking even smaller than usual, she was wearing one of his shirts which on her looked more like a baggy dress, however in the position she was in, it barely covered her enough for his eyes not to wonder.

"What's wrong Shrimp?"

"Gajeel do you have any regrets?"

He laid his head back on the couch and covered his face with his hand. He wasn't really awake and struggled to keep his eyes open "What type of regrets?"

She shrugged and rested her chin on her knees "You know… regrets… in life, things you would wish you could have done…"

"Nah... I mean, what's done is done Lev…"

"Mhm… you are such a liar" He huffed through his nose "Am not...nothing burns my conscious… almost nothing…"

"Oh?" He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands "Fine I have a couple regrets...but like I said, what's done is done"

"Do you have any fears?"

"I'm fearless shrimp; no one can take me out…"

"What's a thing you regret?" he was annoyed by the question, Gajeel hated she didn't know the answer to it, but he figured he owed her at least that "How we met… I regret how we met"

"You know… you've paid for that one time too many… It's about time you let it go"

"Not happening… even after that, you were one of the firsts to forgive me, to… include me in everything and make me feel like maybe I could belong… I'll never repay any of that"

Gajeel didn't hear a response back and he assumed she had fallen asleep; he felt the weight shift and when his eyes moved down, he saw her slowly moving towards him "What ya doing Shrimp?" Levy curled up between him and the couch and laid her head on his chest; she let her hand rest on his stomach and settled in her new comfortable spot.

His heart was pounding hard, he felt blood rushing to his face; he thought maybe this was a dream, he would wake up to find himself alone and panting on his couch, because there was no way in hell the woman of his dreams was comfortably using him as a body pillow. He looked down to see her, a few tears were running down her face and his hand immediately went to her chin to tilt her head up.

"Levy…?"

"I don't want to have any fears or regrets… life is too short to be afraid Gajeel" She pulled herself up until her lips were so close he could feel her warm breath, he felt his heart beating so fast he felt it could come out of his chest and the smell of ink, paper and flowers he had gotten so used to was so intoxicating that he could taste it through the air.

He was too shocked to move, and she didn't wait before stealing the last few inches of air between them to close the gap with a sweet kiss.

Gajeel was lost now, too far gone inside his own dream becoming true; he knew he could never let her go after this. The kiss intensified little bit little, Gajeel pushed his tongue inside her mouth and she accepted it without a second thought.

His senses were focused on her soft tongue running circles in his mouth, her taste, her smell and the way his shorts felt tighter than before; Gajeel was so focused on her lips that his instinct took over his hands that slowly made their way under Levy's shirt and caressed her back, he was lost in the softness of her skin.

A small moan left her mouth and woke him from the trance "Lev, you gotta stop…"

Levy did stop and sat back in her place and fisted her hands trying to look tough, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to put you in an awkward situation, I know you don't like me like that…"

Gajeel just stared at her in amazement, how the hell could the smartest woman he had ever met be so incredibly clueless.

"Just please forget about this ok?" She smiled before turning away to hide her face. Before she could even think about leaving Gajeel grabbed the back of her head and kissed her.

"Silly shrimp… how can I?"

He kissed her again, still with his fingers tangled on her hair, his other hand made its way to her waist and pulled her towards him while his kiss pushed her head towards the couch, he slid his hands below her shirt when he noticed she was shaking.

"Do you want me to stop?"

She shook her hand and raised her arms. He knew this was something new for her and was determined to take his time to make her understand how much he wanted her. Gajeel slowly removed her shirt and tossed it to the ground before letting his eyes memorize her body.

"Y-you are staring!" She was blushing, and he thought that was the cutest thing he had seen in his life "Dammit Shrimp… how could I now? You are fucking perfect"

Levy felt self-conscious about her body, she had spent her entire life surrounded by model quality women, gorgeous, with perfect silhouettes that sold thousands of magazines when appearing in the covers; she looked away and instinctively covered herself.

"You don't have to do this just because I want to Gajeel… I know there are probably other women you could be interested in…"

"You crazy?" He looked almost offended at her statement "Why would I want any of those women over you?" her mouth was slightly open and there were a few tears on her eyes. He supported his weight as best he could and started placing open mouthed kisses on her shoulder, then her neck; she stopped thinking and moved her hands to the back of his head pulling his hair with strength.

 **XXX- Stop reading here if you are underage or not into this type of writing - XXX**

His hand traveled to her perky breasts and flicked her nipple earning him a soft humming sound; he smiled while still kissing her neck before pinching her nipple with his index and thumb and pulling a little making her moan harder this time. Gajeel was determined to make sure he kissed every inch of her skin, and to touch every part of her body.

He licked from her shoulder to her neck before lowering his mouth little by little and going back up "Stop… teasing…" He grinned and hooked his arms on her back; he pulled her up on the couch leaving her upper back to lay on the arm rest before pinching her nipple with his teeth; she grabbed his hair and pulled him closer to her while arching her back.

The smell of her arousal was taking over his senses and he almost went on overdrive; he pushed her farther up and now her waist was laying on the armrest of the couch and her upper body was outside of it, she tried to pull herself up when he ripped her panties off her body and brushed his tongue on her slit sending shivers through her body.

Levy moaned his name harder and harder with each stroke of his tongue. He reached for her ass and pulled her hips up before using his tongue to roll circles on her entrance and inserting it mercilessly over and over; she almost screaming at this point and then when he exchanged his tongue with his fingers and sucked on her pink button she couldn't hold back anymore. He felt her walls clenching on his fingers and he licked her until her orgasm was over.

Gajeel sat down and cleaned himself with the back of his hand before observing his work. She was completely limp, her back arched on the armrest in an impossible way with her body hanging outside of the couch, her soft hands laying almost all the way down to the floor; her legs were still sprawled open in front of him, she was completely out of breath and the blush went all the way to her chest.

Once she was able to sit up, she looked at his smug expression and shook her head; he was about to laugh when he noticed the look on her face… he knew that look, this woman was about to cause trouble and he could only gulp.

Without the shyness that was present before she pulled his boxers down just enough for this hard member to be released; she was a bit startled but the look on his face and the blush of his cheeks made up for it. He stretched her hand and brushed her thumb on the tip of his member causing her to growl and bite his lip.

Levy brushed her fingers up and down enjoying the way he shivered at her touch "F-fuck Levy… who's teasing now…" He had barely finished saying those when she covered him with her hand and pumped him harshly; Gajeel closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch while moaning her name.

He still had his eyes closed when he felt her lick his tip and his eyes shot wide open; her blue hair on his lap while her soft tongue discovered him little by little; she took a deep breath and took him in her mouth, not going all the way the first time; she bobbed her head a couple of times taking more of him every time when she felt him grab the back of her head and following her movements.

It was becoming too much for him and he knew if he wasn't careful, he would finish soon, and he wasn't planning on leaving this score even "Stop Shrimp"

She pushed herself up and stared at him "Did I do something wrong?" he huffed "You were doing it too well…" she blushed and giggled, she wanted to go further with him, she was ready… She kneeled on the couch before moving to straddle him and sitting on his lap.

"S-shrimp… I don't want to hurt you"

"You could never hurt me… stupid Gajeel…" She kissed him passionately and he let his hands caress her back before lowering them to her butt and squeezing.

"Woman… what the hell are you doing to me?" she moved a bit to be exactly above him and positioned him at her entrance; he grabbed himself moving her hand away and rubbed his member on her folds "You can still change your mind ya know?" she shook her head and moved down a little feeling him stretch her walls.

She took her time, trying to avoid as much of the pain as possible, although with her controlling the movement and speed it was much less painful that what she imagined; she took a minute to adjust before pulling herself up again; she saw his face… mouth slightly open, eyes close and practically frowning in concentration; she went down again and continued with a steady rhythm until he got ahold of her hips and started moving her faster; she gasped and moaned, her head was starting to get dizzy, and when she leaned back a bit she felt his arm on her back to steady her before pulling her hips back touching a special spot inside her that made her yell his name.

It only took a few more minutes for her to finish with him inside her, her walls clenching around his hardness, he pulled her towards him while she rode her orgasm and it was enough to make him come undone.

 **XXX - Continue reading after this point - XXX**

She was resting on his chest, still catching her breath. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have found someone like her, without judgment or malice, someone who saw him for who he was and still was by his side. They were both in pure bliss and he allowed himself to close his eyes and relax with the love of his life resting above him on the couch.

He woke up close to 10; the house was empty. Levy's things were not on the table anymore, in their place there was a white envelope.

"No, no, no no… What the fuck did you do…" He opened the envelope with shaky hands and unfolded the white sheet of paper.

"Gajeel,

There were many things I was afraid of before today, I was afraid of taking what I wanted, of facing things alone.

Today I have no regrets nor fears, you have made me stronger and there is no better way to face what's coming our way.

Do not be angry at me, my mind was made since the start. I was afraid of you breaking my heart, to laugh at me for wanting something I could not have. Today I am fearless because I know I will never be alone, you are always in my mind.

I never knew true love was possible until I met you… I love you more than what words can express.

Yours forever, Levy"

His felt ice going through his veins, he barely got dressed and ran to the guild, but she had been gone for hours. He was ready to go after her but was stopped by the Master himself.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"Get out of my way old man! I'm bringing her back!" dark scales on his arm alerted a few of the guild members who took a step back wondering what was happening.

"If you go after her you would be signing her death sentence. If you were marked, then as soon as you get close, he'll sense your fear and end her"

The words felt like a wrecking ball, he was afraid of losing her, and that fear could cost her life. If he didn't follow, never seeing her again was a possibility, but following her could cause him to lose her forever.

Erza got close enough to him and laid her hand on his shoulder "You know her; she is the smartest person we know right? Believe that she would never take an unplanned step, you have to trust her, if you are afraid, that will only make her a target"

He suddenly realized, she wasn't clueless, he was. She didn't want regrets or fears in her mind, she wanted to leave peacefully, she wanted to say goodbye in case that was the last time she saw him.


	8. Chapter 8

**OK so Ch 8 has been rewritten as** **promised** **! Thanks for reading, please remember to R &R.**

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 **"No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side...Or you don't."**

 **― Stephen King, The Stand**

* * *

Levy's train ride gave her plenty of time to think, she had a confusing mix of emotions varying from guilt, to sadness and fear.

She knew Gajeel would be angry, she felt bad for leaving things like that specially after what happened between them; just the thought caused her cheeks to pink up.

She was sure that at this point, he had figured out there was no way to follow her without making things worse, she had made sure of it… she knew whether he loved her or not, he appreciated her as a partner and so he couldn't risk following her and causing her death, she also knew she had been selfish by dropping all her fears and feeling on him before leaving him alone in bed, and she was aware that if she survived this, she would have to deal with the consequences.

"No, I don't regret it" she thought to herself, "I'm doing this because I know I have to, I'm not afraid. I don't fear losing him because whatever comes, he'll never leave my heart. I'm not afraid because I blindly trust my friends" that single sentence had become her mantra, and she kept making it ripple inside her hear; she felt good about her decisions although that didn't mean they were easy to make. She took a nap all the way to her destination; after all, she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

Levy was awoken by a clerk once the train had stopped; she left the train and inspected the white piece of paper with the address on it. She walked through town enjoying the view of the place; it was clean and colorful and just by the architecture of the buildings one could tell that the town had spared no expense on their improvements. Trees and flower bushes adorned the streets, the floors were made of a flat polished gray rock that made all the colors seem brighter, the stores on the sides were inviting and she wished she could have visited the place under different circumstances.

She stopped at a small store to get directions, and the clerk almost seemed confused when looking at the address "You can't miss it, go straight ahead until the big gate, although I must warn you that you'll need a formal invite to get in" she smiled at him and nodded before leaving the store, she knew if Lucy was there she had an open invite to see her friend.

She finally arrived at the enormous metallic gate and lingered a bit to inspect it and she saw right away the irony of the inscription _Timor autem pertinet ad infirma_ , "Fear belongs to the weak… we'll see about that". She was quite impressed with the construction itself, the property size and decoration were breathtaking and very similar to the ones from town, it didn't take her much to figure out he probably had something to do with that as well.

* * *

"Tatsuma-sama, there's a woman at the gate requesting permission to enter the property"

"Well then send her away, we do not let people in… ever, have you forgotten about that?" the young maid lowered her face in embarrassment "I'm sorry Sir, she said she knows Heartfilia-sama and demanded to speak to her at once"

Fukuro turned to Lucy and kept observing her while asking the obvious question "Did this surprise visitor give a name?"

"Yes Sir, she said her name was Levy McGarden, from Fairy Tail" Fukuro narrowed his eyes and kept his stare on Lucy who had lost all color on her face. "What's the meaning of this…I thought I was very clear about the conditions for visitors"

"I don't know what she is doing here, I swear I didn't know"

Fukuro did not like unexpected guests, he had always been a bit to attach to routines and plans and having someone unknown to him disrupt that was upsetting, however, after thinking about it he knew this could only work for his advantage.

He gave Lucy that terrifying grin she had gotten used to over the last couple of months, and she shivered "Well, we can't keep guests outside, can we? That wouldn't speak well of us as hosts. After all I would love to get to know your best friend"

Lucy smiled and nodded but deep inside she knew, he wanted to give her more to lose; losing Natsu or Levy would be devastating for her, but losing both…she couldn't think about that, not now.

"Please welcome her and take her bags to one of the visitor's rooms and bring an extra placing so she can join us" Lucy clenched her fists underneath the table, her hands got sweaty and she put all her energy into looking as if nothing was happening.

It didn't take long for Levy to be welcomed in the house and directed to the table where Fukuro and Lucy were waiting for her. She walked in both hands on her back and with a huge sweet smile; Fukuro extended his hand to greet her and Lucy's heart stop for a second knowing exactly what he was planning to do.

"I'm happy to finally meet you Ms. McGarden, I've heard so much about you" his smile got even wider almost to the point of showing his teeth, he felt the rush of energy he always got when branding someone as cattle… and this was not anyone, this was one that held a special place in Lucy's heart.

Levy's smile got bigger too, "Oh please! Call me Levy" she extended her hand to greet him and his grin flattened a bit when he noticed; her hands was covered by a beautiful pair of satin elbow length gloves. Lucy wanted to jump from her sit and scream victorious; but on the outside she kept looking just happy about her friends visit.

As soon as they released each other's hands, Lucy jumped Levy and hugged her tightly.

"What are you doing here? I've missed you so much!"

"Well you didn't seriously think I was going to get a wedding invite and sit on it right?"

They sat down for lunch and enjoyed a casual conversation, Fukuro asked about their missions, and the guild. Levy kept calm, she was laughing and joking with Lucy just as if she knew nothing of what her friend was experiencing; she assumed Fukuro had all the information he needed from every guild member, but she kept her answers general to avoid giving too much information.

"Oh Lucy! You have to come back home for a few days, everyone misses you so much and we were all so surprised to hear about the wedding"

Before Lucy could respond Fukuro cut her off "We are very busy with the wedding planning Ms. McGarden, I'm sure you understand"

"Levy, please" she smiled politely, "Well I just thought you'd like to have a bachelorette party with all the girls! Also, there were some people talking about a farewell party for Lucy before she starts her new life"

"Well isn't that nice…"

"Yeah, they really want to see her before the wedding, knowing them they'll probably decide to barge in and have it here, that's what family does after all" Levy laughed, "we've never been the type of people to sit back and relax, but I guess that's why Lu loves us so much"

Lucy tried to hide her nervousness with laughter "Who exactly would plan such a thing Lev?"

"Oh well, of course the entire guild is unstoppable so that's happening. But we know for sure Sting and Rogue will want to bring all of Sabretooth, of course Sherria will come with Lyon, hopefully Jura-san will want to join, and our course the Master will insist on inviting Warrod-sama …"

And there it was… in Levy's mind, she was playing chez, and her next step couldn't be taken until she figured out his next 10. She was aware that playing an open and risky game could have consequences but was far more interested in making up his character.

"Wow, well I didn't know Lucy had so many friends in higher spheres; guild Masters, former council members, it's seems dear you are very well connected"

"Fukuro-san, Fairy tail has always been happy to cooperate with other guilds and although the council has not always been… a fan of our methods, they do pay a lot of attention to us. We've made many friends throughout the years. When Fairy tail builds a friendship, we never let it go" Her last remark sounded a bit snarkier that intended, but thankfully, she wasn't considered a thread, so it went unnoticed.

Fukuro's smile disappeared completely, "We can discuss it later then, we wouldn't want to disappoint such important friends. If you excuse me ladies, I need to attend a few businesses in town. Ms… My apologies, Levy, make yourself at home, Vincent will be at Lucy's disposal as usual to take you girls anywhere you want"

He walked away from the room trying not to show his anger at the small blue-haired fairy, he had underestimated her and avoided seeing the thread she posed to his plan. Of course, he had no problem with the council, they would eat up whatever he conjured, but it was not on his best interest to get guild masters and wizard saints riled up. He hated her deeply and decided at some point she would be gone from the picture, no matter what.

Lucy held Levy's hand, she opened her mouth to speak; Levy squished her hand and shook her head letting her know this was not the right time. It was amazing how they could read each other so easily, their relationship was so based on trust and understanding that the small gesture was enough for now.

"Lucy! You need to tell me everything about the wedding. Did you select a dress already?"

"I have not"

"Well then it's settled! Why don't we hit the stores today and pick our favorites? I'm sure a little shopping will brighten out mood" She winked at her with a smile and Lucy nodded, something was cooking in her best friends head and she was determined to figure it out.

They left soon after that with Vincent; he had eyes and ears everywhere, which made "real" communication so much harder. He took them to the fanciest bridal shops they'd ever seen, if they weren't so preoccupied with the actual issue that would have been a memorable moment. It took a couple of hours for them to get through the best shops, where of course Lucy tried out more than a couple dresses until they had narrowed down their list enough to decide.

"Ugh I'm spent. My feet hurt so bad" Levy fanned herself with her hand and rolled her eyes.

"I know! Hey Vince! Is there a coffee shop around this place you can take us to?"

"Of course, it's not far from here"

The coffee shop was in a street corner, the windows went almost from ceiling to floor and were covered with glass despite the squared framing that made a big crystal door in the middle; there were many available sits on the outside with tall stools and tables all in dark wood, but they decided to shelter themselves from the sun. The inside was much cooler, it had comfortable rouge pink couches surrounding shorter dark wood tables and small light beads hanged from the ceiling simulating fireflies.

They sat down together on one couch and Vincent sat across them, he made a point of not leaving them alone since of course his job was to keep an eye on Lucy like a hawk. Levy knew she had to figure out a way to get rid of him without it being suspicious, so she used the only tool she thought would make him uncomfortable… girl talk, if there was something that would for sure make ANY man she knew uncomfortable, it was definitely girl talk.

"Lucy, Oh I have so much to tell you about, I can't believe you've been gone for so long!"

"I know, I haven't heard from anyone yet, what are they up to now?"

"Forget about the rest! They can come and talk to you themselves about their stuff; I had a huge fight with Gajeel, he was being a total jerk!"

"Oh, please Levy, there's nothing new about that…" Lucy was so used to being around Vincent she didn't even noticed him anymore.

Levy blushed and thought about what she was going to say, she knew there was not much to lose but her sense of privacy and it was a given she would have to make it annoyingly awkward.

"Yeah but this time we made up" she winked at Lucy with a sassy smile.

Lucy almost spat her tea all over Levy's face. "Wait, what do you mean with… you made up… choose your words wisely do not get me all excited over nothing Levy McGarden!"

"Well, if you _really_ want to know…I went to his house, and once he was asleep on the couch I kind of jumped him"

Lucy's eyes widen in surprise, her jaw was about to hit the table "J-jumped him? As in… jumped him?" Levy nodded and stuck her tongue out and Lucy turned her face to stare at guardian "Vincent walk away! We need to have a girl talk!"

"Ma'am I can't leave, Tatsuma-sama's orders were…"

"Oh, it's fine Luce, he can stay. So, we started making out softly but then it got really serious, he started doing this thing with his hands, it seriously drove me crazy…" after a few minutes of conversation, Vincent was redder than Erza's hair.

"Mhm, I guess it wouldn't hurt anyone if I give you some privacy, I can't leave but I'll get a table in the back. Miss… Please don't mention it to Tatsuma-sama"

"We won't say a thing" they both smiled at him and gave him a wink.

"Geez! Ok he is finally gone… Lucy we need to talk"

"Damn it Levy! I actually thought this had happened, you've been reading too many romance novels"

"Mhm" Levy blushed again and her lip shook a little.

"No way! Did that actually happen? Levy McGarden you are telling me this right now!"

"Don't you think we have more important items to discuss than my intimacy? Seriously Lucy!"

Sigh, "Yeah you are right, I've just been longing a real talk with someone you know?"

"I know Lucy… We know about him, about what he can do"

Lucy felt relieved, but it didn't last long… "And Natsu?"

"He's been back for over a month now, he doesn't know"

"I thought so… this whole place would be nothing but ashes if he did" she smiled with a nostalgic look on her face.

"It's not only that Lucy, I think he has also been marked…" Lucy's heart stopped for a second, Natsu had always been the thing that tipped the scales for her, he gave her a new life, safe that life many times and had held her hand throughout pain and fear "How do you know?" her voice was shaky and she was trying hard not to cry with Vincent so close to them.

"We have figured out who had been exposed to missions where he seemed to be involved… Natsu was in one of those and it was before his nightmares started" Levy could tell by Lucy's face she didn't know about it, so she took a deep breath proceeded to tell her all about Natsu's lack of control, what happened with him and Merryl, his nightmare, and the ongoing training the guild helped him with; it was too much information to handle in such little time.

"Do you understand? We cannot tell him Lucy… If he loses it, he will stop at nothing until Fukuro is dead, and maybe not even then, if he is not in total control by the time he finds out we could lose him… forever" The words resonated in her head; through every problem they had come by, one thing they could always count on was Natsu fighting back with every once of his being, and coming out victorious, but could he really win against himself?

"Levy you don't need to explain, you made the right choice. I can't judge you know… I'm here, aren't I?"

The script mage nodded, she knew hearing this wasn't easy for her friend and could barely imagine what her reaction would have been if she was in her shoes "What's your biggest fear Lu? What is he using against you?"

Lucy took a deep breath, she always called Levy her best friend but didn't really know what it meant until she saw her risking everything for her. "For him to die, to watch him die, to lose him… I can't imagine a guild without him, a life… I don't want to even think of what that would look like"

"We'll figure it our Lu; but we need to play along. In order for this to work, you need to break Natsu's heart in the worst way possible. He'll forgive you once this is over, but he absolutely has to believe this is what will make you happy"

They played pretend while Vincent took them home; they had at least twenty-five bags of shoes, and clothes and entered the house laughing and holding hands as if they hadn't had the creepiest talk of the century.

"Well it seems someone had a nice time" he smiled at both mages and signaled the many bags poor Vincent was hardly able to hold.

"The best time" Lucy dropped the small bags she was carrying on the floor and walked to Fukuro in an excited childish way, she put her arms around him and whispered to his ear "Thank you Fuku-kun"; she then kissed his lips and tangled her fingers on his hair.

Fukuro was shocked at this response. His eyes shimmered as his brain went on and on; she was happy and that's all he cared. Lucy on the other hand was indeed happy for a completely different reason, the certainty of knowing exactly how to manipulate a man like him into believing what she wanted him to believe.

"Mhm, well why don't you ladies change clothes and prepare for dinner, I'm sure you've both had a long exciting day"

In a matter of seconds, he was left with his thoughts after both of them ran up the stairs almost in glee.

"She seems happier today. That visit made her happy, that kiss wasn't forced… I know it wasn't" whether he truly believed that, or he was completely blind and delusional was something no one would be able to tell. They all sat down for dinner while Levy and Lucy went on about all the dresses they saw, their favorite ones and the ones they hated.

"Fukuro, Lucy wanted to take some pictures but it's bad luck to see the bride wearing the dress before the wedding"

"Oh Levy, I'm sure we'll have infinite luck, but I'm a traditional man so I appreciate it" They enjoyed the rest of dinner with small talk, then dessert and a cup of tea to close the day.

"Lucy, I think you should go home and visit your friends before the wedding. It may be exactly what you need" he had changed his mind after he saw how agreeable she had become just by Levy's visit, it occurred to him that in order to tame someone as spirited as Lucy, he may have to meet her half way.

"Oh Fuku-kun… but I don't want to leave you alone here with all the planning!"

"My dear, I'm sure with all your lady friends over there, you'll have plenty of hands ready to help. I'm assuming you'll see your… other friends too?"

"Well I'm guessing they'll be there, but they won't really want to help with the wedding details"

Levy saw where this was going "Oh they won't be around to break anything we buy, they went on S-Class training, I'm not sure when they are coming back, but they'll be on time for the wedding or Erza will have their heads"

"It's settled then, I'll make arrangements for you to leave early in the morning, with Vincent of course. I still have a few matters to take care of for the next few days, but I'll call the hotel and make a reservation for you"

"Oh, I still have my place there, I don't think it's necessary"

"It is, I'll call at lunch and dinner to make sure you are ok"

Lucy knew what that meant, it was a place where he would have eyes everywhere, and he would make sure she was there; he had removed the metaphorical chains to allow her to move only to replace them for larger ones, with a guard and checkups.

Levy took a lacrima out of her pocket and called Erza in her fake excitement tone "Erza you won't believe this! We are coming home so you better get the plans started on the bachelorette party"

As if this had been well practice Erza performed at her best "This is amazing! I'll ask Mira to take care of the food and snacks, Cana will get the drinks, I'll buy a cake!"

"Sounds amazing! See you home soon, we leave early in the morning"

The two fairies tried to sleep but anticipation was getting the best of them. Lucy rolled on her bed the whole night just thinking on how to handle the task in front of her; she always though one day she would break someone's heart and will have hers broken in return, but she never in a lifetime would think she would have to do that on purpose to keep her best friend alive. She knew this was far beyond only breaking his heart, she would have to betray his trust.

Levy on the other hand was now anxious, returning home to deal with Gajeel after she left wasn't something she was eager to do, but just being able to go back home to see him was more than she had expected at the beginning.

Morning came soon, and Vincent had everything ready for their departure, the ride there was completely silent, and in no time, they had all sitting inside the train on their way back to Magnolia.

* * *

As soon as Erza finished her grand performance in the lacrima just in case they were being heard she disconnected and turned to the rest of her friends.

"It worked; they'll be here tomorrow afternoon"

Gajeel was in pretty bad shape, apparently worrying about someone that deeply didn't suit him well, he had bags under his eyes and was moodier than normal, fortunately he had Natsu's training to take his frustration out which had worked for both of their benefits. "Is she ok?"

"She sounds ok Gajeel, but we won't know for sure until she is here, but she is coming back… that's the important thing here, don't you agree?" He nodded and clenched his fists without saying anything else.

Gray sat tapping his fingers on the table "What now? Which one of us will backstab our friend?"

This was not a job they wanted to take. Avoiding the information was one thing but actually lying to his face was something different. This was the man who had stuck his neck out for every single one of them, risked his life countless times, opened their eyes to simple facts that they were unable to see because they always complicated things… this was the man that carried the guild's unbreakable will on his fist.

"I'll do it" Merryl was sitting on the floor just looking at her fingernails.

"Oh please, you are the reason why we are in this position, why would we trust you?" Gray still thought keeping her locked and restrained was best for them.

"You should trust me because any of you could kill me with one punch, and I'm painfully aware" she rubbed the small cut on her neck while staring at Erza.

She noticed that wasn't good enough for them, and took a deep breath "Look I know right now I'm worse than trash ok? I can't make up for it and even if I could I wouldn't do it, I have my own reasons to be in the position I'm at. What I can tell you is that I know how to hurt him, and I'm expendable, right?"

"One wrong step trash…"

"I know, you'll stop my heart with one single move"

* * *

The next morning, she was finally allowed out; she took a shower and a change of clothes and went on her way. She grabbed some food from the guild and went straight to the training place; the guys were seriously devastating it.

"Wow, by the time you finish there won't be a forest left Lizard" she smirked at him and blew a kiss his way.

Natsu was standing in the middle of the designated training place with Laxus and Bickslow while Evergreen and Freed stood outside of the runes; he rolled his eyes and turned around to continue with his activities "Mhm I thought you were gone, how disappointing"

"Well it seems I have a soft spot for mystical reptiles after all. Master Makarov needs the Raijinshuu back. And you dragon-boy, you need to eat something if you are planning to keep training like a maniac"

Natsu grudgingly agree; he was starving after such a long training. He stared at Laxus and nodded at him silently letting him know it'll be ok.

"We'll go see the old man and come back to keep training, wouldn't want you to relax too much"

"I'll be waiting right here, don't even think about running away Sparky!"

The Raijinshuu walked away talking in confidence as they usually did, leaving the Dragon Slayer and the redheaded mess of a woman behind. Natsu almost absorbed the food she brought for him and immediately laid on the floor to rest with his hands behind his head; Merryl stretched her arms and back and laid her head on top of his chest as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Oi… you are doing it again, get away from me before you regret it"

Merryl put her hand on his neck and pulled herself closer to his face "Why can't you ever just live in the moment? Would it be so bad?"

He looked away from her to avoid her eyes "This is not what I want", she pushed herself up and grabbed his chin to force him to meet her eyes "But you want her?"

"I… I do"

"Please, honey you are a monster, a well-oiled killing machine made in the fucking fire of hell… You are not even human anymore! She could never want you, and even if she did you would only bring her pain"

"You don't know that!" Natsu pushed her off and stood from his place

"But I do, you think I didn't see you sobbing in your sleep? Calling out her name while tears stained your pathetic face… Creepy looking scales all over your body, claws and sharp teeth. "Oh Lucy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I love you" such a pathetic image"

Natsu was barely able to pull himself together, he was angrily shaking, steam coming out his body, but he pulled through.

"Well I guess we'll see what she wants once she comes back… won't we?"

"Oh, honey but we did see…she has someone now, didn't you hear? OH WAIT… I forgot none of your friends thought you were strong enough to handle it… so they have all been lying to you for days now!"

"You are full of shit Merryl"

"Well you could always ask her yourself… she'll be back any moment now… Just don't blame me if you take her out once she breaks your sad little heart"

Natsu lost his composure for a moment; he grabbed Merryl by her shirt and pulled her off the ground and got her close enough to whisper in her ear with a deep voice "I could break your neck right now and throw you away, no one will shed a tear for someone like you, do you know how easy that would be for me?"

"Just as easy as it would be for you to break hers… And this is the man who's not a monster?"

He loosened his grip and she fell to the ground, when she looked up at him, he was staring at her with eyes she had never seen before and suddenly she was scared. The darkest fire started revolting around him as a tornado, rising to the skies scorching everything in his path. With a single move of his left arm, a burst of fire took miles of trees out leaving nothing but a steaming pile of steaming charcoal.

"You better stay out of my way before you see the real monster"

He walked away slowly leaving a fire trail behind him. She couldn't move, the air around her was still so hot, her skin had blisters from the heath, it was burning up just by standing close to him, she laid there and cried like a child holding her knees to her chest.

After walking half way back, the fire trail stopped, he needed to find out if she was lying; he had a hard time clearing his thoughts but managed to stay an inch away from chaos once again, but he could tell it was getting harder every time.

* * *

Levy, Lucy, and Vincent got to the hotel to drop Lucy's things there. She got a call from Fukuro in perfect timing.

"We got here ok, we are going to meet the girls for drinks and plan things out. Is it ok if I get here a bit later than usual?"

"Fine, but you'll call the second you arrive"

"I promise"

The three of them were almost at the door of guild, when Vincent noticed two people on the side talking; he immediately recognized one of them.

"Miss Lucy, I know Tatsuma-sama would not approve but I think you may need some time alone with your friends, so why don't I get out of your way for a while?"

She was surprised by the offer but took it without a second thought "Oh Vince thank you so much! Yeah, go tour around, and we'll met back at the hotel"

Vince walked to the side of the guild calmly until Lucy and Levy were out of sight and then ran to push Gajeel out of the way and wrapped his arms around Merryl, he looked at her burning skin and brushed a few strands of hair of her face.

He saw the burning skin full of blisters, the tears on her face and noticed her body was uncontrollably shaking "What the fuck happened to you Merr? Are you ok?"


	9. Chapter 9

**OK SO this has been re written too! a bit more details on the Merryl-Fukuro interaction although no changes XD.**

* * *

 **"I must get my sould back from you; I am killing my flesh without it"**

 **\- Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath -**

* * *

Merryl POV

I saw everything unfolding slowly before my eyes and realized I had taken it too far for him to handle; his eyes were so empty now… cold even, and he was a completely different person than the one I met. I could feel his body temperature rising until fire flickered from his skin and for a second it was beautiful, just life a phoenix burning his life away to start over…

The flickering flames became powerful waves of heat that engulfed him completely, they started circling him faster and faster and became taller every time they spun around him until they reached the sky; I couldn't move nor speak, it was the most beautiful and terrifying thing I had ever laid eyes on.

It felt like his flames were consuming the little oxygen I could gather, and my lungs constricted in pain as if being burned from the inside out… I pushed it too far… why did I?... It had always been easy for me to make people react the way I want them to, but this I didn't expect, or maybe I did… maybe I wanted him to end my pain once and for all because at least dying by his hand would warm up my heart.

I saw him raise his arm to the side in a perfect and elegant motion and just with that simple act that side of the forest was gone… he hadn't even touched a thing and he was able to do this, maybe… just maybe he would be able to finish this once and for all and break the chains that bound us to a hopeless destiny, but how could he if he didn't know about it?

In the few seconds my skin was burning, I thought that was my end; that thing people say about your life flashing before your eyes when you are about to die is very true. I thought a lot in that little time on how I got to be in this situation and there was no other answer than the obvious one, I've always tried to play people but, in the end, I got played… even if I tried to blame it all on him… I knew very well this was my own doing.

I remembered being a child, living in a great house, tall roofs, and shiny floors… how I loved every single picture on the walls, every polished surface from the floor… how I envied the stars under which the rich had been born.

The house I lived in wasn't mine, not the clothes I wore, nor the shoes I stepped on to do my daily chores, but my family had worked there since forever, I couldn't remember a time in which my family wasn't bound to fulfill every single wimp and desire from the "masters'" mouths… I hated my life there; I thought I was meant for so much more.

I observed and learned everything I could, I was sure I'd grow up to be better than my poor mother, to marry better, to get somewhere different; my fate couldn't be tied to thanking someone for their leftovers.

I would always observe the young master struggle with himself, searching for the love of his parents where there was clearly none; his eyes showed so much pain whenever they refused to give him the simplest form of attention and for the first time, I felt bad for someone other than myself.

He was like a small bird after crashing against a window, weak, injured, broken… and I wanted nothing more than to watch him take what was his from the hands of the people who denied him.

I was carrying a water bucket though the foyer when I saw him; he was sitting on the stairs holding his palms against his eyes and sobbing; every time he rubbed the tears away more would come out and he would grab his head and pull on his hair whispering to himself "Stop… just stop". We were about eight, so young and naïve… he was sweet, the sweetest boy I had ever met; I sat next to him on the stairs and tried getting as close as possible without disturbing the young master, I reached out to put my hand on his back and rubbed it like my mom used to do when I was sad.

"Master, what's wrong?"

"I hate them so much…"

"Your parents?"

He nodded and cleaned his face before turning my way "Yeah… I think they hate me too"

"Why would you say that Young Master? They are your parents, they can't hate you"

"They are always angry because they keep secrets from everyone; they say we are meant to be greater than what we are today" he looked disappointed at the words as if a huge weight was being dropped above his head.

"Well I think that too! I believe I should be greater, and you should too"

"I think you are already great…"

I made him smile; he held my hand and his grin became so big. That's the day I decided I would spend the rest of my life trying to make him smile like that. For some reason that smile gave me peace in the middle of chaos… I have only met one person with a smile like that after him… and by the situation I was facing now I could tell they both had more than a couple things in common.

We stayed friends through our childhood, always looking for company in the midst of our sadness; I would sneak into his balcony at night where we would watch the stars and talk about everything and nothing at the same time. He would get a thick blanket to extend on the floor so we could lay there, his head touching mine while he pointed at the sky and name the stars excitedly.

It didn't take long for his parents to notice our growing relationship and they warned my mother, she had to keep me away from their precious heir or we would be kicked out for good, because of course… why would someone of his status want to hang out with the poor, filthy daughter of their maid. My mother was shocked, this had been her family's home since forever and she did the only thing she could… she forbade me from spending time with him.

Of course, what good is a prohibition to a couple of preteens? Right away we got creative and figured out ways to see each other. We were growing up and as we got older, we perfected our games of hide and seek discovering those would still work to escape and make out under a tree. We had our first real kiss when we were fifteen and it kept escalating bit by bit.

By seventeen our skills were so perfected, he would sneak me in his room, so we could be alone and surrender to each other, he claimed every part of my skin and I did the same over the course of that year. I thought his parents knew but whenever I thought we were going to get caught it seemed they hadn't seen anything or heard anyone. They were different, he was different; the sweet boy I thought will take me places became an arrogant, controlling, and obsessive man and I set out to either fix him or break myself.

A year later his parents died, almost 2 weeks after his 18th birthday; the best doctors were called to inspect them and everyone agreed it had been some sort of virus. They seemed to have withered from one day to the next; their bodies looked like they were 100 years old, their skin was completely dried and wrinkled and their eyes were way inside their sockets, it was a terrifying sight. I tried comforting him, of course despite of everything that had happened they were still his parents, but to my surprise he was calmed, poised, and ready to take on the family business.

I kept thinking, "This is it! We have no obstacles, he'll marry me, and I'll have the life I deserve". Little did I know that his eyes were set on a bigger price... a much brighter star than the one I was born under.

I was ready to take my place there despite my mother's warnings; I was so cruel to her… how I regret not listening, not being a better daughter for her… "You just want me to be sad and miserable like you! What kind of mother wants her daughter to have such a miserable fate! You take pride in cleaning people's mess, how pathetic, well that ain't me! Go on! Take your dirty rags on your rough hands and keep picking after them, that's the only thing you know how to do" she cried so much, she prayed so bad…she prayed for me, for my soul, for my safety… but that soul she prayed for had been surrender to him long before, a deal with the devil sounds like an accurate description at this point.

I entered the master bedroom to get everything ready, this was it! My new life was waiting for me and I couldn't wait for it to start. I dimmed the lights and set the champagne on the side, fluffed the pillows and removed my outfit before folding it neatly and putting it inside one of the drawers; it was silly but putting my clothes away in his drawers was the most magical feeling… I belonged there.

I was wearing nothing but a pair of black laced panties and a matching bra that made my red hair and olive eyes look even brighter, and a pair of high heel shoes that wrapped around all the way under my knees. I laid on his bed and waited, I waited for so long until he finally arrived.

My body was in the middle of the bed with my hands stretched out in the sides, one of my legs completely straight on the bed while the other was slightly bended. He walked around the bed like a panther looking at its prey, he had always been addicted to the feeling of imposing power, probably because when we were young, he had so little…

While he circled the bed slowly, he removed his tie and undid his shirt, never removing his eyes from me, he stood next to the bed "Belt…" my hand moved to follow his command without a second thought. He smirked and pulled down his pants and boxers in one pull, his eyes still burning with desire and looking up and down my body.

He got on top of me in one move and grabbed my neck so hard I felt it was going to break, but I did nothing to stop him; his other hand moved to my right breast and squeeze without tact, but I couldn't scream in pain with his left hand on my throat. He was smiling, but his smile was not the one I remembered, it was a dark sardonic grin. He lowered himself and bit hard on my right breast, and I knew that was going to bruise if not bleed… I felt pain, pleasure, desire, fear… I couldn't understand how this man could made me feel so many different things at once

I remembered the first time we had sex, he was so sweet and caring, so worried about my wellbeing… we had taken our time to discover each corner of our bodies, he had kissed the tears away from my eyes and hugged me to get rid of the initial pain. Foreplay now was a long-forgotten story… he was selfish and only cared about his own needs, so, it was no surprise for me when he moved my underwear to the side and pushed himself inside me while still holding my pulsing neck on his hands.

I didn't mind, because in the end I was the one who fixed his wings and helped him recover… I was the one who stood by his side and fought for him all those years, I was the one who let him take whatever he wanted without a fight, I was the one… the only one. He would rise and take me with him and finally I would get the greatness I always knew was meant to be mine.

I did worry, he wasn't like that when we were younger, he was shy and sweet, and his kisses tasted like the sweetest honey; I'll never know what changed him into what he is today. I endured so much abuse from him that I thought my reward was a given, who else could he be himself with? Who was going to love him so much to stay by his side as I did?

With one last thrust he emptied himself inside me and rolled to his side still trying to catch his breath "Get out…"

"But babe" I got closer to him and laid on his chest running circles with my fingers on his skin "I thought now that things are better, we could sleep in tomorrow and maybe have breakfast in bed"

There were a few seconds of silence before he started laughing so hard that it hurt… he covered his face with both hands and shook his head "What are you thinking Merryl? Oh, so you are the housemistress now?" I pushed myself up and kneeled on bed, I was so confused "Get the fuck out"

"Why are you being like this? I know you care for me… don't act as if you don't"

"You are nothing but the help, you are nothing but a sad piece of shit and your purpose is to serve me, which you have…"

I was broken… I stood up trying to keep what little pride and dignity I had left "If I leave now, you'll never see me again Fukuro! Do you understand that? I'm done!" I tried to give him that look, the one you always read about in books where the female lead shows strength and determination and the tables switch on their favor because the world is just THAT FAIR; silly… thinking I could manipulate him of all people.

He was so fast… I could barely see him coming but by the time I reacted his hand was on me and he crashed my head against the wall before catching my bruised neck. "Oh, so you think you are done? You are not done until I say you are bitch… don't ever forget that" He squeezed by breast with so much strength that I thought it would burst… then he brushed his hand past it and pushed below it a bit before releasing his grip. "You are not totally useless… yet…"

When I looked down, I understood what he meant… there was a mark in my body, a black owl, and I knew well what it meant. The years spent in that house had taught me that nothing good would come for someone marked by the dark fate of the owl.

"I'm not afraid of you Fukuro, what else can you do to me?"

"Oh, sweet selfish Merryl… you think you are so smart! I see behind those perfect green eyes; you regret… you fear. If you ever go against me, I'll make you less than nothing, so irrelevant to the world that you'll be invisible. And your mother and brother will have the fate you fear the most, they'll suffer so much that you will prefer to kill them with your bare hands to release them from their pain…"

"You wouldn't do that… the boy I met ten years ago wouldn't do that, where is that boy?"

"He is d-e-a-d Merryl… I killed him a long time ago, you just didn't want to see it"

And so, my sentenced was signed, I would be his puppet, his accomplice, his servant, his executioner, his lover, but nothing more. My life faded away, my dreams now seemed the delusions of a spoiled child although considering everything…they may have been just that; it is sad that it takes so much bad doing to understand how wrong one is, my mother was wrong, no amount of praying would help us out now.

* * *

Vincent tried to shake his sister but didn't want to hurt her more than what she already was "Answer me Merryl! Who did this to you?"

"You know this traitor?" Gajeel pointed at the redhaired woman and frowned.

"Get your fucking hands away from my sister before you regret it!"

The Dragon Slayer was about to snap, but just when he fisted his hand, the gears on his head clicked "Sister?"

Merryl wouldn't say a thing, she didn't move, she was conscious but was so shocked and harmed, that things seemed to be moving slowly, noises sounded like listening underwater, muffled and far.

"We need to get her inside. Merr come on! Answer me!" Vincent brushed his hand against her cheek, but she didn't even look at him.

"We can't take her inside without making things worse. We'll take her somewhere safe but for now no one can't know about this, ya hear?"

Vincent thought for a second, Lucy was inside, the guild would make questions. He didn't trust the shady evil looking guy standing next to him, but he didn't have much of a choice.

"Fine… lead the way"

Vincent carried Merryl on his arms and followed Gajeel to the outskirts of Magnolia until they arrived to Porlyusica's place. They were greeted by an old woman with pink hair, an explosive temper, who was charging towards them with a broom.

"GET OUT OF MY PROPERTY YOUR BRATS"

"Stop this! We need your help"

"Well you are always in need of help; you smelly humans can't seem to stop fighting each other"

Gajeel swallowed hard and bit his tongue "Please… this is a special case, discretion will be needed"

"Tsk… you always have special cases…" Porlyusica led them inside with a frown on her face, if the Iron Dragon Slayer had gone as far as to say please, that was a story worth listening to.

"I'll help, but the moment you lie or keep a secret from me…"

"I know…"

Vincent laid Merryl on the bed and uncovered the burns on her body, he stared at her small frame and felt anger building up inside his chest. Porlyusica observed the poor girl but was shocked once she recognized the very familiar smell on her skin; she turned her face to Gajeel and gave him a concerned look "This was…Natsu?...What happened?"

Gajeel was standing there, arms crossed over his chest, still trying to figure out what he could say; after all, he knew nothing about Vincent. He finally concluded that he had to tell the truth to the old healer about everything and if the visitor tried to escape, he could simply take him out with a single punch.

"Yeah…he lost control" he felt the mood of the room changed and saw no other choice than to disclose more information "but we planned for it… she knew, is not like we threw here against her will ok? we just never thought it would be this bad"

Vincent's face went dark; he was angrily shaking and considering going after him for what he did to his sister until he heard the rest of Gajeel's explanation.

"Natsu's been corrupted with some sort of evil mark, which collided with him reaching his maturity stage. The guy who did this is trying to take him out to get Lucy to marry him and carry his child, but for some reason instead of taking him out this is only causing him to lose himself over and over…"

Vincent just stood there, he felt hate for Natsu but pitied him, he was no more than a puppet with a few missing strings who kept trying to stand up or lay down and was incapable to. He wanted to believe his sister offered to help because she had finally come to her senses, he loved her so much… but he knew that since they were kids, her mind had always been less than fine.

Porlyusica agreed it was best for the girl to stay with her for now until it was all figured out. Gajeel and Vincent walked back to the guild without exchanging any other words, there was a sense of awkwardness around them.

* * *

Levy and Lucy entered the guild; everyone except for the pink-haired dragon slayer was excitedly waiting for their arrival, so as soon as the doors opened up everyone erupted in cheers; Lucy took a deep breath, the loud noises, the smells, the sight… this was the place where she belonged.

Erza, Mira, Cana and Lisanna ran towards Lucy and hugged her until she was turning blue, of course Erza had to immediately pull her into her armor crushing her face in the process "I have missed you Lucy!"

"Oh Erza, I'm sure Lucy has missed you too, if you would allow her to breath she would most likely tell you" Mira giggled when Erza blushed and released her grip on her blond friend.

Lucy coughed a couple of times, but immediately smiled at her friend "I have missed you… so much" there were little tears forming on the corners of her eyes and immediately Lucy was pulled by her neck and felt a hand inappropriately brushing her breast "And I've missed those!"

"GEEZ CANA! Let go!"

They wasted no time and started planning the bachelorette party for the next day, talking about the decoration, drinks and ceremony, the whole deal, the girls had insisted in keeping a lot of the details in secret claiming to have a few surprises for Lucy.

Mira kept the drinks coming and a little blush could be seen on their cheeks, they'd been catching up for a couple of hours; it was as if Lucy had never left. They were laughing and chatting until a deep voice cut through their cheerful reunion.

"Shorty!..." Levy froze and turned slowly to find a very angry Gajeel staring at her. He pointed his finger at the back office "Office...Now…" his voice sounded like a low growl and the color left every single face on that table.

She looked at the girls who had the same fear expression on their faces. They observed as she slowly walked behind him, once the door was closed, she immediately started to talk.

"Look I know you are angry, but please listen, I had to, ok? She is my best friend" there was no response and her anxiety was rising by the second "I won't apologize for doing what I did! I am a capable mage Gajeel!" she was met with more silence "Can you just say something! Anything! Scream at me if you want just… say something!"

She heard his foodsteeps stop behind her and he could hear her heartbeat pulsing in her ears; he stood there for a few seconds, and then covered her with his arms and rested his face on the crook of her neck.

"Don't you ever disappear like that, shrimp...you can't scare me that way, ok?"

Levy's eyes watered as she grabbed his arms with her hands, she nodded and whispered, "I promise". He squeezed her torso and breathed in her scent "I'm not joking… you can't do that to me ever again…" she simply nodded and bit her lip to avoid whimpering but he knew, he could smell he salty tears on her eyes.

Gajeel turned her around and kissed her with thirst, he kissed away every tear and kissed the spot where he bit her lip. He carried her to the Master's desk and laid her down as he continued kissing her; she wrapped her hands on his black soft hair while he held his weight to avoid crushing her. "Ahem…" The sudden noise disrupted them.

"One would advise to lock the door… and to not use your Master's work place for such… activities" they both turned to find Makarov staring at them with a quizzical look "Now… GET OUT OF MY OFFICE BRATS!". They stood up and fixed themselves only to find more than a few heads peeping through the open door. Their faces were beyond red at this point.

Gajeel cleared his throat and left the room, head high, walking in between a shocked pair of Shadow Gear mages who were now starting to cry mumbling something about their lived never being the same again, and them loosing Levy for good this time. The rest of the equally shocked observing faces followed his moved until he left, he was thankful that he had to try to find Natsu before it was too late so it was about time to leave the guild anyways, he took a few of the guys and left.

Levy went back to the girls that were now observing with a sassy look.

"Well… Go Levy! didn't know you had it in you kid...wait… did you?"

The group burst into laughter "Cana shut up! How can you say such a thing!" Levy said while covering her very obvious, very blushed face.

The girls continued with her day, not letting Levy forget about it. It was dark out and Lucy decided to walk back to the hotel, she took her time, inspected the river, looked at the stars, she walked by her old apartment with sorrow and decided to keep going.

Once at the hotel, she called Fukuro to let him know she was well, he chatted about his day and how much he missed her, and then she went to bed. Lucy felt pain in her chest, the moment she feared was getting closer and she missed Natsu so much; she cried herself to sleep as she had done many nights before during the past couple of months.

The next day, Vincent asked Lucy if it was ok for them to each go their way again, his question had surprised her, but she was happy to take up on his offer; she noticed he was being weird but had too much on her plate to focus on that.

The girls met and blindfolded Lucy, it was all supposed to be a surprise after all. They arrived to a clearing well hidden in the forest, a place where Lucy had never been; due to the large amount of trees around it, all the usual visual references were not visible.

"Wow girls what is this place?"

Erza decided to give a short and concise answer "Sorry Lucy, we don't know how far his power goes so that's something we can't say"

"So… you all know?"

"Most of us do, there are a few people that we've kept outside not only for your protection but for theirs. Natsu can't be controlled by us anymore, and we're afraid he may not be able to pull himself out of this one either"

"Wait, where has Natsu been? I haven't seen him around"

They looked at each other trying to find the right way to respond, but there wasn't any. Erza took a deep breath "We… we are not sure where he is Lucy. You see, we decided it was time for him to know you had someone, we sent a person to talk to him, to tease him and things went bad, he walked away"

"Come on Erza! No one followed him? He is a danger to himself and any other person now!?"

"She couldn't follow him...she has hurt badly" It was bizarre to even speak those words… the thought of Natsu hurting someone like that without a real reason was something they couldn't accept, but facts were facts.

Lucy felt the same… she was aware, Natsu would often get into fights but she had never thought he would be capable of hurting someone to that extend. "She?" Lucy asked while counting every single person there with them thinking which of her friends he could have hurt.

Levy took a step forward "The girl I told you about… Merryl, she was supposed to get under his skin. Lucy, you and I had talked about this, the plan was for you to break his heart, but this can't happen if we don't find him. We've looked everywhere we can think of"

"I know but I need to leave tomorrow Lev… If I don't… he'll come here and I won't allow that to happen, I won't let Fukuro hurt any of my friends"

They stayed for hours trying to think of ways to solve, they had a bunch of plans and theories but nothing specific. Her friends promised they would figure something out and to never abandon her. Lucy was afraid but also grateful to have such friends.

Night came soon, and he was still nowhere to be found, Lucy walked back to the hotel and had some dinner, she called Fukuro and told him about the great day she had with her friends, and how excited they were to be bridesmaids, she told him she would go to sleep to leave early in the morning all with her happy bride-to-be fake tone to keep him at bay.

Lucy left the hotel and decided to go back to her old place, she didn't know if she would ever be back, she trusted her friends but wanted to take some of her stuff just in case. Her apartment held so many wonderful memories of her life in the guild, of her, Natsu, Happy… she couldn't leave that all behind.

She pulled her key and unlocked the door quickly, although Vincent had agreed to go their separate ways, she didn't trust him enough yet to be sure he wouldn't run back to Fukuro to give him information; she got inside and rested her forehead on the door. The room was dark and only slightly visible due to the moonlight entering through her window.

"Hey Luce…" she immediately gasped at the hoarse sound coming from behind her, she felt het hear sink all the way to her stomach, of course! They had searched for him in every single place they could thing of except this one… How could she not recognize the voice behind her?

Lucy turned around and found him sitting on the couch, the moonlight bouncing on his messy pink hair and creating a shadow on his face that hid his eyes from her. Natsu had his elbows on his knees and was resting his chin on his hands; she noticed the almost empty bottle on her coffee table and the short glass.

She could tell right away that he looked off, there was no signature grin on his face, and the fire in his eyes seemed long gone… he was just there as a shell of something that used to be but wasn't anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

**HEY Y'ALL! ok so as I mentioned in the NEW Chapter uploaded today this took a long time because I was in a well deserved Holiday Vacation, so, I apologize! But to make up for my minor disappearance, I uploaded both update to this chapter and the new chapter XD**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"Every betrayal contains a perfect moment, a coin stamped heads or tails with salvation on the other side"**

 **Barbara Kingsolver**

* * *

*Previously*

She pulled her key and unlocked the door quickly, although Vincent had agreed to go their separate ways, she didn't trust him enough yet to be sure he wouldn't run back to Fukuro to give him information; she got inside and rested her forehead on the door. The room was dark and only slightly visible due to the moonlight entering through her window.

"Hey Luce…" she immediately gasped at the hoarse sound coming from behind her, she felt her heart sink all the way to her stomach, of course! They had searched for him in every single place they could thing of except this one… How could she not recognize the voice behind her?

Lucy turned around and found him sitting on the couch, the moonlight bouncing on his messy pink hair and creating a shadow on his face that hid his eyes from her. Natsu had his elbows on his knees and was resting his chin on his hands; she noticed the almost empty bottle on her coffee table and the short glass.

She could tell right away that he looked off, there was no signature grin on his face, and the fire in his eyes seemed long gone… he was just there as a shell of something that used to be but wasn't anymore.

* * *

Lucy didn't know how to react, her heart felt like it was about to leave her body; she had waited so long to see him, she missed him so much and he looked so bad; she was fighting every bone in her body to not run and comfort her best friend in this horrible time, to let him rest on her lap and brush her fingers through his hair, to tell him everything was fine now…

"Natsu… Where have you been? Everyone has been looking for you since yesterday…"

"Well Luce, they didn't look very well, did they? I've been here…"

"Since yesterday?..."

"Yeah, I figured out you would eventually come here, honestly I didn't think it would take you this long… how could I know you weren't staying in your own house?"

"I'm… staying in a hotel, it's just that…." She was interrupted abruptly, he didn't even look at her when he asked, "I need to know...is it true?"

"Y-you haven't asked me anything yet…"

Natsu laughed, it was more as if he was mocking the situation, and even in the darkness in the room she could tell his eyes were glossy. The sound was so unlike Natsu, it was a painful, almost to the point of being scary and Lucy didn't know what to make of it, she leaned on the door and stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You have a guy now, and that's where you've been… shacking up with him somewhere" his words sounded bitter, he wasn't even looking at her but just staring at the floor.

"Yeah Natsu, I have a boyfriend now, h-he's… great actually"

"Ok great… so go on then, go get it out of your system" He looked at her, and this time his eyes were softer, almost pleading and filled with hope "and then come back and we'll pick up where we left of, ok?" he meant it, he didn't mind if he was second, or if he had to wait, he just wanted her back somehow.

The thought of her being with someone else was killing him inside, but he knew it was his own fault, after all he had never told her what he really felt, nor why he was so upset with her before; so, waiting patiently for her was not something that would come easy, but if it meant having her back he would do so, just for her, because she was worth the wait.

"It's not like that Natsu"

"Of course, it is… I was an idiot and you left and met someone, that's fine Luce, we can talk all about it when you come home ok?"

"I didn't meet someone… I've known him my whole life, and he is the one I want to be with do you understand that?"

He didn't respond, he seemed to be just sitting there staring at noting in particular, one hand holding the other and squeezing making his fingers whiter than usual because of the pressure; "Natsu… I'm not coming back"

Natsu held his breath but otherwise had no reaction, no response, she was expecting a big childish scene, yelling and pouting, she hoped to see her best friend did what he usually did; the man in front of her looked more like a shadow of what she remembered.

"Listen…I've talked to the Master, and I'm leaving for good… I'm getting married in a couple of days and..."

His brow twitched, he turned to look at her and opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before finding his words, but he didn't find any; he stood up and strode towards her, he was so close she could feel heat coming out of his skin; Lucy remembered all those nights she had kicked him out of her bed and cursed herself for not taking advantage of those moments to be honest with him.

"No, you are not, you'll realize he is not for you and you'll come back here Luce. There's no one else for you" there was something in his eyes, he seemed almost feral. Her heart was pounding, her knees were shaking, and a breath got hitched on her throat causing her words to sound less confident than what she wanted "I a-am not. He is the o-one I want to be with, I'm m-marrying him"

He was so frustrated now, he felt that small thread that was holding him together slowly tearing apart; it felt like fire in his veins, a black hole in his stomach and electricity in his heart, his heart started pounding and he had to stop himself from growling "THE HELL YOU ARE!" He pushed Lucy against the door pinning her with his body; he slid his hands down and grabbed her legs to put them around his waist, and she didn't try to stop him.

He kissed her passionately, painfully, deeply; every kiss made her feel the devastation from his soul, the desperate cry from within telling her to stay with him, to try to figure things out together; his tongue was playing circles with hers, engaged in a fierce battle that he won every time, he kept pushing his body towards her and it was almost too much for her to resist, her legs were now willingly wrapped around him and se instinctively pushed her hips towards him; he slid his hand to touch her neck, then down to her shoulder brushing her soft porcelain skin.

Lucy felt a sharp pain on her right arm and pushed him away, falling to the ground with a painful scream; she had never felt something so hot in her life and it took all her strength not to faint. He turned away and laid both of his hands on the sides of his head, he was panting; a deep growl came out of his throat as the flames ignited his body causing some of the windows to break and the carpet underneath him to darken; he looked back to find Lucy shaking on the floor, her blouse covered with blood; she was holding her injured arm with one hand but he could tell the wound was deep.

His heart stopped for a second, he looked at his crimson arm, shinning red scales covering every inch of skin on it, his claws were wet with ruby red liquid… Lucy's blood, that's when it hit him, he had lost it and grabbed Lucy by the arm while they were kissing causing her skin to rip; he had caused pain to the person he cared for the most, just by touching her, she was in pain because he cared for her.

"No, No, I… I didn't mean to… Luce…" his pleading desperate eyes tried to find her one second and avoid her the next, she could see the pain this was causing him "Please, Luce… I'm so sorry…please…"

Lucy would have run to him, she wouldn't have minded, her best friend was in suffering and she would go to hell and back to save him; but she knew today she couldn't. She knew exactly what she had to say. Natsu knelt and extended his shaky hand to touch her.

She cringed against the door and started crying and shaking harder "Please don't hurt me Natsu…" those simple words destroyed something within; his eyes widen, and she could see the tears starting to form in his eyes.

"I didn't… I wouldn't..."

"Why would you do this to me? Why do you want to hurt me?"

"I didn't mean to… Luce I didn't notice…I'm…" he was interrupted by the words that would put the final nail on the coffin that held his sanity "When did you become this monster! Tell me!"

He felt a sharp pain on his chest, as if someone had put a knife through it and pulled down splitting all the blood vessels in half; he stood up and left the apartment without looking back, he couldn't face her, not anymore, the cost of being uncapable of taming the monster inside of him had been too high, he had lost the right to walk next to her, forever.

After a few minutes, Lucy laid on the ground and cried desperately, letting out a soul shattering scream "What have I done?" it kept going for a couple of minutes, but she knew she needed to move, the bleeding on her arm wasn't stopping and even if this wasn't a devastating injury, she still had to take care for it.

As soon as she was able to stop crying, she rushed to the guild hoping someone was still there, her arrival alerted her guild mates.

"We need to call Wendy"

"Levy we can't get her involved! She is just a child"

"Lucy, you are leaving tomorrow, if you go back to him with that on your arm, all of our plans will be useless"

There was no other choice, it didn't take long for the youngest of the Dragon Slayers to arrive; Wendy walked towards Lucy silently and held her hands towards her, as soon as the bright light started emanating from her hands, Lucy felt the pain leaving her body. Everyone was staring at Wendy, half expecting for her to immediately ask what had happen, but to everyone's surprise she didn't ask any questions; she just looked very sad.

"Wendy don't feel bad, I'm ok, this was just an accident"

"No, it wasn't. Natsu did this to you"

"Why… why do you think that?"

"The wound is a deep cut, but its borders are sealed, even without the smell this wound reeks of fire dragon…"

"Wendy… it's not his fault, look…"

"It's ok Lucy, there's no need to discuss this for now"

No one noticed when she grew up, everyone still thought of her as the child, but there she was accepting this was something they couldn't explain, and surprising them with her skills. She didn't say much after that and went back to sleep.

Lucy head back to the hotel to get everything ready, the next couple of days would be long and tortuous. She would leave in the morning and her friends would follow the day after for the big event, she couldn't believe this was happening so quickly.

* * *

Vincent left the hotel, he knew Lucy would have the bachelorette party and wouldn't notice his absence. He walked towards Porlyusica's place to check on his sister, she looked better.

"Hi Merr…"

"Vinnie?... What are you doing here; you are not supposed to be here"

Vincent held her hand and kissed her forehead.

"That's not important; the important thing is you're safe now"

"I'm so sorry Vinnie…" Merryl started sobbing "This is all my fault, I'm so sorry… I had to do this, you need to understand, I fucked up so much, but in the end, I just wanted to keep you and mom safe, safe from him"

Vincent's face darkened again, "Merry...Mom…" he squeezed his sister's hand and bit his lip trying to hold back his tears, and she immediately pulled her hand away and shook her head "No...No… he said you would both be ok, he said if I was useful you would both be ok"

"Merr… she's gone, her mind is gone…"

"How...?"

"He wanted to prove himself… he used her to show what he could do"

Merryl's scream was filled with pain and sorrow, her salty tears burned her face. Vincent tried to console her but there was nothing he could do. Porlyusica ran towards them and threw something in Merryl's mouth before covering it with her hand; after a few seconds, she was calm and sleepy.

"Ma'am I want to thank you for what you've done for my sister, but I need to leave soon, and I fear she'll be in far more danger if I take her with me…"

"Go now, I won't be in charge of her, but she can stay here while she gets better"

* * *

Lucy left early in the morning with Vincent, they boarded the train with sad looks on their face, her eyes were still red from crying most of the night.

"You can't let him see you like that Miss"

She was startled by his voice, "It's just the dust… It's very windy today"

"Right; well how about we get you some drops to get that dust out of you eye, does that sound ok?"

Lucy nodded; something had happened to Vincent during the last few days, he seemed nicer, empathetic, even worried about her.

The rest of the ride was quiet, they got to the manor and Lucy kept playing her doting fiancée's role to perfection, while Vince watched from the distance, he had a feeling what had happened to his sister wouldn't be the last he heard from Fairy Tail.

* * *

After Lucy left, the guild had less than a day to get everyone ready for the trip, not everyone was going, some people were not convinced about Lucy's wedding and didn't want to watch her go through with it.

"Have you found him yet?" Makarov was worried about Natsu, leaving him behind to try and take Fukuro out wasn't going to be an easy task.

"We haven't, we have groups searching everywhere"

"Well Freed, you have Laxus, Gajeel, and Wendy! You have three Dragon Slayers, and three flying cats! Are you telling me their noses can't pick up his scent?"

The slayers looked a bit ashamed, Laxus stepped up to try to explain "We did pick up his scent gramps, but he seems to be everywhere, each time we're close we seem to have missed him by minutes, it's almost as if he…"

"As if he was avoiding us…" Gray slammed his drink on the table, "Well thunderbolt, the reason why it seems that way, is because he IS avoiding us. We shunned him! We lied to him! And then we managed to make him feel like a monster"

"Watch yourself Gray… we didn't make him feel like a monster… blondie did"

Erza had heard enough, she slammed her hands on the table "Are you both blind? Do you think she wanted this? Are you so dumb to think we even had a choice?" there were tears on her eyes, but she managed to keep them inside.

Silence took over, Laxus and Gray knew this was not the moment to fight, "We are sorry …"

"Everyone needs to go home and rest, if he doesn't want to be found then we won't find him. We need everyone in the best possible condition tomorrow morning"

The group nodded, and each went their own way. Levy started walking to go to her apartment when Gajeel caught up to her.

"Hey short-stuff…"

"Hey…."

"Can we… go somewhere?"

They walked to Gajeel's house in silence; he got two beers from the kitchen and sat down across from Levy.

"Is this about what happened?"

Gajeel took the letter she left out of his pocket and laid it in front of her. "Did you mean it?"

"I did…"

"I'm not easy to deal with shrimp, you can walk away and pretend this never happened, I wouldn't blame you"

"I know…"

"I'm jealous and possessive… and I'll make wrong choices, I can't promise to be better, I'll try but there's no guarantee"

"I know…"

"Ok then it's settled" Gajeel moved closer to Levy and put his arm around her, "From this day on, I'm never leaving your side…"

She blushed and laid her head on his shoulder; he grabbed her chin and pulled her into a kiss.

"I don't know what's going to happen after tomorrow; but let's make the best of whatever time we have"

* * *

They day passed, and it was time to board the train, they were still worried about Natsu, but could only worry about one at a time, and right now their priority was to save Lucy from a dark fate.

They took off early in the morning hoping everything would fall into place.

Natsu saw them leave from a safe distance, and just walked away; he seemed tired and unfocused, there were circles under his eyes, his knuckles had several cuts from where he had tried to get rid of his frustration earlier that day.

He knew his friends had tried to find him, he had been about to get caught several times, but managed to escape by a couple of minutes; he couldn't face them if they knew what he had done to Lucy, of course they knew, why else would they be so determined to find him? The only reason why he had managed to stay away from the guild and keep some of his sanity, was because he knew Lucy was safe, he had tracked her scent since the day, just to make sure she was ok.

He was determined to leave for some time until he could figure everything out, that's until he ran into Merryl. The burns on her body were still quite visible, her hair was messier than usual, and her eyes seemed lost somewhere else; she was dragging her feet, and looked so broken…

"I thought I told you to leave!"

He noticed there was no response, so he walked towards her and pulled her arm, he didn't know how bad she'd been hurt by his fire until that moment, he'd been able to see some of the burns from the distance, but seeing her up close…

"He broke his promise...he said she would be ok… he lied" Merryl held him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him before she started crying again.

"Just leave Merryl; this is your last warning"

"He used me, you, your perfect little girlfriend too… oh he'll use her all right, as many times as he wants, he owns her fear now" the tears kept running down her face while she laughed at him and cupped his face "And you fell for his tricks, he fucking played you like a flute"

Natsu grabbed her by the neck and threw her to the floor, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You've probably seen him before; he marked you and made you live your worst fear over and over, and he got off on your pain. He made you shun her, and now you'll lose her forever, just as I lost my mother" she kept laughing to his face, he felt that thin thread disappearing once again, he was drifting into chaos slowly.

"Bullshit, fucking psycho… How the hell would you know that?"

"Oh, that's easy enough, he owns my fear too. I helped him get her, and you, we are all his now"

Natsu had been angry a couple of times, it was not a new feeling for him, but the intensity of this anger was quickly overshadowing any emotion he had felt before; this was not only anger, this was hate, he wanted her dead, he wanted to feel her warm blood on his hands and dripping down his body, he wanted to look as the last spark disappeared from her eyes, he could picture himself ripping her heart out with one hand and watching as her body twitched… he wanted to hear her plead for her life and laugh at her face for being so naïve, never before had he felt so much need to hurt someone.

"But I know something no one knows lover-boy… how about we make a deal?"

* * *

The Fairy tail guild arrived at their destination a few hours later. Their plan was set, but they still needed to find an in, a weakness in him that they could exploit.

"Gajeel… Can we talk in private?"

"What do you want Gray?"

"Look, I want to think everything will work out, but let's be honest; we barely have half a plan"

"What are you thinking about then?"

"If everything fails, I'm ready to make the hard choices… no matter the cost"

"You realize if we kill him, we'll have to leave the guild, to disappear… Would you be willing to do that, to leave everything behind?"

"For Natsu?... Flame head has been a pain in my ass since we were kids, he is stubborn, annoying, and extremely problematic… of course I would, he's family… Gramps is right, he is… my best friend and I'll be damned if I let this guy take him out"

"What about Juvia?"

"You dragons and your lack of balls… Juvia knows about this, and she'll come with me if it comes to that"

A voice came from behind them "We're in" Laxus had been able to listen to them and got closer with Bickslow by his side. "I've been banned from the guild before and getting rid of the dick who's trying to screw with my family sounds like a better reason to"

"What's your excuse Bickslow?"

"Mah… mostly the same, also can't let that guy get into Lucy's pants, can we?" Bickslow stuck his tongue out as he often did, they didn't really know if this was his regular pervy self or him trying to break the tension.

* * *

"Welcome Fairy Tail!" Fukuro sounded excited. He stood on the door greeting every single guild member individually. Everyone that chose to go to the wedding was made aware of the situation, and the risk they were taking; they had decided to face this as a family.

"Well, why don't we figure out how many rooms you will need before we get on with our day"

Lucy held Fukuro by the arm and smiled at him trying to get him away from as many hands as she could; she refused to let him hold more of her friend's lives in his power.

"That sounds like a perfect plan dear"

"Levy and I will take a room for ourselves" Levy immediately blushed while noticing all the inquiring looks staring their way, Gajeel put his arm around her neck and told her "I warned you I wouldn't leave your side shrimp… you are pretty much screwed" he gave her a big toothy smile and she simply muttered "Stupid Gajeel…"

"Gray-sama and Juvia will too!" Gray was looking the other way nervously but extended his hand to hold Juvia's.

Lucy giggled a bit, looking at Levy and Gray's face "Well it seems this will be a weekend full of surprises. If everyone agrees, I think that the Raijinshuu can share a room, Erza, Cana, and Wendy too; Master you will of course have your own room, and our happy couples can get rooms for themselves. The rest can accommodate as they please, would that work?"

"Well, it sounds like a plan then. You've heard our hosts brats! Let's get moving" Makarov signaled everyone to go to their rooms to put everything away and walked towards Fukuro.

"You have a beautiful home"

"You honor me Master Makarov"

They walked side by side, Makarov held his hands behind his back "You also have a beloved daughter of mine, and I never got asked for my opinion"

"Will all due respect sir, you are not her father, and even if you were, I wouldn't have asked for permission" Fukuro gave him a smile without avoiding his eyes, political politeness mixed with disdain; a cocky smirk appeared on Makarov's face "I may not be her father but she is my daughter, young man. With age you come to find that some things are better asked that stolen"

* * *

Titania observed her friend; the card mage sat on one of the beds, legs crossed while scratching her chin, repeating the same motion with her cards for the last half an hour "Hey Cana… What are you doing?"

"Hm…hey Erza, just… trying to get something from my cards, I'm worried about him, something is not right"

"We are all worried about him Cana, but we need to focus on today; we'll kick some sense back into him some other time ok?" Erza smiled in a confident way trying to comfort Cana, but deep inside she was mortified about the suffering they put their friend through, not only that but the fact that he was now facing that suffering by himself.

They have all seen Natsu in pain at some point, but ever since Igneel's dead things had not been the same and even if not everyone could tell, Erza did. Natsu had always been a happy guy, nerves of steel, easy going behavior, whatever he faced he would succeed and move forward, which was why it was so hard for everyone to see him so out of himself lately.

"I know, but it's not that Erza" She sighed, "I keep getting the same reading since Natsu left on that mission to begin with, it didn't make sense back then, but now…"

"Which mission?"

Cana took a deep breath and shook his head "The one where he met Merryl… that woman is trouble"

"Indeed" Erza sat next to Cana and put her hand on her shoulder, "Tell me what you see"

Cana started pointing at her cards to explain, "Suffering, Sacrifice, an unbreakable bond, and then nothing…"

"Cana what do you mean with nothing"

"Exactly that, noting… no outcome we can foresee, or expect"

* * *

Natsu was out of his mind with anger; his blood was boiling, this had happened under his nose, everyone knew what was happening but him and Lucy was too far right now. Merryl had given him all he needed, he was determined to see this through and would not rest until his hand felt Fukuro's neck break on his grasp, he wanted to make him pay for everything he had done.

It was too much for him, he had been played like an idiot, he had let them all go out of fear of facing his mistakes and she was out there trying to keep him alive, she had lied to him… he knew her better than he knew himself, he should have been able to tell. Natsu was too angry and the darkness within had started taking over the corners of his mind again, this time… he didn't try to stop it.

He grabbed Merryl by the neck and raised her from the floor, he held her there for a couple of seconds to look at her eyes, she saw no forgiveness, no light, nothing of what she had seen before.

In a quick move he threw her against the threes on the side, and she stayed there, lying on the floor; she wasn't scared, in her mind there was nothing to be scared of anymore, she just hoped the sweet relieve of death would take her soon now that she had set all wheels in motion, but it didn't come.

She looked up to see Natsu kneeling, both hands on the floor, fingers digging on the ground, panting. He started punching the ground so hard, the earth trembled at his touch, fire emanated from his body with such heath that it was hard to stand close to it, his flames were entwined, one pure crimson red, the other as black as charcoal, and then suddenly he stopped.

He stood up, patted his clothes in the most common way possible and started walking with a stern face as if nothing had happened.

"Wait!" She could barely stand but managed to get close enough to grab his leg, "Just end this! What are you waiting for?!"

He turned her way and she felt shivers down her spine, if she hadn't known him so well, she would have thought it wasn't him, this man standing in front of her was someone completely different.

"Do you think I am as merciful as to just finish you off?" He gave her a crooked grin that made her sweat and reconsider the decision to let him finish her "You may be useless now, but you don't deserve mercy" he knelt again and grabbed her chin with strength "If you want mercy… search for your God… not for a demon" she had seen that face before, not on him, but Fukuro... Whatever had changed her former lover into the soulless monster he became, whatever pain he had experienced, it had now been forced upon someone else; he kicked her out of the way and left.

Merryl was left alone with her thoughts, she couldn't move now, but she didn't care. She finally understood how Fukuro ended up being the way he was, and she added one more regret to her long list; She'd played an important role to push Natsu a step closer of being just like him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's the re written version on Ch11, I hope everyone is doing well, as always thanks for following the story. I apologize for the posting inconsistencies, I have been going through a rough patch but hopefully focusing on my writing will serve as therapy.**

 **NOTE: We have a Beta now! She is working with me on AO3 so, cleaner chapters ahead. Thanks to the awesome Nenley for all her assistance and support.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"Those candle flames were like the lives of men. So fragile. So deadly. Left alone, they lit and warmed. Let run rampant, they would destroy the very things they were meant to illuminate. Embryonic bonfires, each bearing a seed of destruction so potent it could tumble cities and dash kings to their knees."**  
 **― Brandon Sanderson, The way of kings**

* * *

"Wait!" She could barely stand but managed to get close enough to grab his leg, "Just end this! What are you waiting for?!"

He turned her way and she felt shivers down her spine, if she hadn't known him so well, she would have thought it wasn't him, this man standing in front of her was someone completely different.

"Do you think I am as merciful as to just finish you off?" He gave a crooked grin that made her sweat and reconsider the decision to let him finish her "You may be useless now, but you don't deserve mercy" he knelt again and grabbed her chin with strength "If you want mercy… search for your God… not for a demon" she had seen that face before, not on him, but Fukuro... Whatever had changed her former lover into the soulless monster he became, whatever pain he had experienced, it had now been forced upon someone else; he kicked her out of the way and left.

Merryl was left alone with her thoughts, she couldn't move now, but she didn't care. She finally understood how Fukuro ended up being the way he was, and she added one more regret to her long list; She'd played an important role to push Natsu a step closer of being just like him.

* * *

The day was going as expected in the current situation, fake polite smiles going around along with gentle nods, people touring the amazing manor to "bask in its exquisite design" and expensive decoration, however, this was merely an excuse for all mages to snoop around and find more information.

The guild had not given up yet in finding a way to bring everyone home, and even with short time and resources, Fairy tail was yet to meet an enemy they couldn't defeat.

The house was full of people taking care of the food, tables, chairs, flowers, ribbons, no money was spared on the wedding preparations; so many things to do in so little time. Everything was being set for the big event later that day and the only person looking forward to it was the host.

Lucy was sitting in her room looking at her reflection in mirror; her golden hair still shone with the sunlight that came from her window, and her light brown eyes were still big, so, she hadn't physically change, however, her lips had gotten used to the fake smile by now, her big eyes now broadcasted a shadow of uncertainty and sadness and that alone was reason enough to know things were not the same.

She missed writing letters to her mother, it had been such an important part of her day for so long, and now she had left that behind too. Lucy had continued writing to her mother for a couple of weeks after her arrival, but she soon realized those letters were no longer private, she had no outlet, no one to talk to, no way to get her frustration out, and it was driving her crazy.

Lucy was distracted with her thoughts, observing her defeated appearance when she noticed someone else looking at her reflection and she was forced to change her sadden look into a painful smile.

"Hi Fukuro, I didn't notice when you came in"

He got closer and rested his hand on her dressing table "So, Lulu" his long clean fingers started tapping on the white surface impatiently "Are you finally going to tell me about your trip to the guild?"

"I already told you about it, there's not much else to tell, I just spent some time with my friends, that's all"

"Which friends?"

Lucy did her best not to roll her eyes and instead she forced her smile a bit more "The same friends that are here now, who else?

Fukuro tighten his lips into a thin line and stared at her with such intensity that she felt like the mirror was going to break "So, you didn't see your pet lizard then?"

Lucy felt her blood freeze instantly, she didn't know if he was fishing for information or if he knew what had really happened, but just his tone and expression were enough to send shivers down her spine.

She opened her mouth to speak but was shut down immediately when he slammed his hand on the dressing table "Please don't tell me you think I'm that naive? I'm completely aware that Vincent wasn't with you all the time, hell, I even know your little friend waited for you like the pathetic piece of shit he is and then ran away like a child"

"Fukuro…"

"No… you are going to tell me why he was in your apartment Luce" Him using Natsu's name for her almost made her vomit, when her best friend called her that, her heart jumped in joy and she felt like she was home, but as soon as it rolled out of Fukuro's mouth it sounded wrong and dirty.

"He was just there, and then he left… there's nothing to it"

His voice took a demanding tone, his expression had changed again to something other than human, something that couldn't be controlled "I want to know what happened, and you'll tell me now or I'll take him out"

Lucy had mastered being agreeable, pleasant and conversational; she had done her best to keep him happy since that was the only thing she could do while preparing to take him down, but the moment he threatened Natsu she felt all the masks she had placed above her face fall and break on the marble floor. She looked straight into his eyes with the coldest stare he'd seen in months, her well-practiced smile was gone in a matter of seconds.

"If you take him out then I have no reason to stay, do I?" he scrunched his nose and huffed "You are right, I do think you are the naive one here, I wish I didn't have to remind you that you can't take him out without me making sure your family legacy is buried, so why don't you tone it down a bit and ask again? Politely this time"

Fukuro's fists were clenching, his eyes were filled with anger and it took everything he had to be able to contain himself, but in the end, he took a deep breath and came back to his usual calm demeanor.

"What did he want?"

Lucy turned her face to the mirror and started brushing her shiny blond hair, her well-practiced smile back in place.

"He wanted to know about you" he moved to stand behind her and placed his long pale fingers on her shoulders placing a little pressure "And what did you tell him?"

"I told him the truth, that we were getting married, and that he needed to stay away from me"

"Is that all, dear…?"

"Yeah, that's it"

Lucy knew she couldn't lie to him, but she also knew telling him a half-truth would give her some peace while she kept trying to figure a way out; she didn't have much time left.

* * *

"Levy we are running out of time" Erza's confidence which was usually higher when in battle was draining by the minute; the idea of being unprepared for what was to come had never bothered her before, she had always known Fairy Tail would defeat any enemy, but now, facing someone who could quite possibly take her friends away before she could react… she felt fearful.

"I have nothing! I've searched every corner of this damn house, I've tried to research on this type of magic, I even got ahold of someone I trust in the council to ask about it, we have nothing… it's almost as if the records of his magic had never existed!"

"Maybe they didn't… and that could only have a couple of explanations… either this was never recorded, or someone was covering their tracks"

Levy's heart ached for her friends too, she had always felt left behind in strength by the people around her but never had she felt as useless as now. She didn't have as much strength as others, and now… her usually praised intelligence was taking her nowhere as well.

While frustration accumulated in the room, Cana sat on one of the beds, legs crossed and rubbing her chin, completely dumbfounded by her usually accurate readings. She had kept trying to get something from her cards without much luck, her readings were the same as before… Suffering, Sacrifice, an unbreakable bond, and then nothing. Her voice interrupted the ongoing argument of her guild mates.

"We don't have a choice… darkness is closing on us and there's no way out. What are we going to do if we don't find a way to break the ties? We can't just watch this happen!"

Silence filled the room, Erza's jaw tightened, and when she was finally able to speak, her voice trembled trying to swallow the knot in her throat "If we can't find a way out, we'll have to choose who to save, won't we?"

Cana's eyes widen in surprise at the severity of her friend's comment, just the thought of choosing one of them made her stomach tumble "Erza we can't make that choice! They are our friends!" Levy stomped her foot on the floor "They are more than our friends, they are our family!"

"You both know as well as I do… if we don't find a way to stop this, it will come to letting Lucy get married and picking the broken pieces of Natsu's heart back up… or stopping the wedding and preparing ourselves to claim his body. Either way, one of them will never be able to forgive us"

Reality sunk in feeling like a bomb in their stomachs and tearing their throats to pieces; Levy was the first to let the tears run down her face, everyone was trying to hide their pain without much success when Erza stood from her place; she walked to the window and made a decision with the determination that was so distinctive of her. She wiped the tears with the back of her hand before speaking.

"Ok,so… we skip the paperwork…" The room went silent again, aside from a couple sniffles "Our original plan was to strip him of his power and turn him in, expecting for the magic council to judge him fairly, those are the rules… but what if someone there covers for him?"

"He could still hurt them… he could hurt any of us" Levy ran her hands through her hair and sighed heavily.

"If we can't trust the council to deliver justice, then… we'll have to take him out ourselves"

Both mages blinked a couple of times and stared at Erza with a baffled expression, they could hear and understand the words coming from her mouth, but they would never think that she meant what she was saying. Erza, the Queen of the fairies, the great Titania, the kind of girl that would seek justice, her joy and pride was the guild, and was incapable of doing something to bring shame to it.

"Erza... what you are talking about… We can't… If we do…" Erza turned to the script mage and raised her hand asking her to stop "I know, I'm not asking you to do it, but when the time comes I do ask you stay out of my way…"

Levy shook her head and stood up, she walked towards her friend and grabbed both her hands "If it comes to it, we'll stay together. We'll protect our family at any cost"

Cana gave them a silent nod; her hands were still shaking from the idea. She felt the nothingness creeping into her chest and cutting into her heart; after losing her mother she never though she would have to lose someone else, but something she had learnt in the wizard world, was that no one could guarantee your life when your job was to go into battle.

After a few minutes to let their agreement sink, Levy left the room and walked down the aisle leading to her own chamber; she opened the door without much concern apparently interrupting an intense conversation between an odd group of people, the four mages present stopped talking as she entered the room and stared at her nervously.

Gray cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head "So I guess we are done then".

She read their body language and decided something suspicious was going on; she stared at Bickslow who would usually jump at the first opportunity to be a total jerk, making fun of people and moving on, was looking down, arms crossed above his chest wearing a solemn expression.

Laxus noticed her staring at them and slapped Bicklow's shoulder sending a minor shock of electricity to his body, "So let's leave the love birds to it, I'm sure they don't need an audience"

The comment and the sting on his arm made him snap out of his thoughts, he laughed and stuck his tongue out trying to go back to his regular demeanor, it was obvious he was trying too hard to contain whatever was on his mind.

"Gray…"

He froze at the door and turned slowly towards her "Yeah?"

"Could you please take your shirt with you?"

"Dammit! Yeah… ok" He moved as quickly as his legs allowed him to and picked his shirt from the floor "see you later!" he slammed the door shut leaving an awkward silence behind him.

Levy leaned against the door and stared at him waiting for him to say something, but he remained quiet, she cleared her throat hoping to elicit a reaction, but he remained stoic on the other end of the room.

"So… ?"

"So? You want to get some lunch shrimp?"

"Are you seriously not telling me what's going on?"

"Nothing is going on, we were just… talking"

"Sure… you were having a friendly conversation with Bicks, Laxus, and Gray of all people… your're a terrible liar" she stared at him for a bit, trying to pressure him into saying something until she got tired of waiting "You said you were going to try to do things right, this doesn't feel like trying, you know?"

Gajeel bit his lower lip and looked down; Levy was his everything and he had sworn to himself to keep her from harm, but what if that pain came from him?

"I… may have to leave the guild, I know I said I wouldn't leave your side shorty, but I… I need to do this…"

Levy recognized the look on his face and signaled him to stop; she tilted her head and smiled. He was amazed, every time she spoke, smiled, every time she took a breath, she amazed him to the point where his heart would feel like it was going to stop beating.

"You did say you wouldn't leave my side… so don't" Gajeel lowered his face, he wasn't ready to deny her anything; he was thinking hard on how to redirect this conversation when she spoke again "Where should we go then?"

Gajeel was taken by surprise; he was sure he hadn't done anything to deserve the amount of luck he had when the adorable bluenette came into his life "I would never ask you to come with me Lev"

"You are not asking… I'll go wherever you go" he shook his head and smiled at her "The guild is your home shrimp" she walked towards him and placed her hand above his chest "You are home too… and you are not getting rid of me that easy"

His smile got even bigger; he hugged her, kissed her lips and whispered, "The world is ours, we'll go wherever you want to go, I 'll show you whatever you want to see shrimp" Levy returned his smile and gave him a long sweet kiss, when she finally let go, it was time to see the bride to be.

* * *

Fukuro sat on the library holding an old book with a red dusty cover, it was so thick that its spine was held by a single thread; he rubbed his chin trying to make sense of the words from the old text, that contained all details for the ceremonies that needed to take place between him and his bride.

He had heard most details from his parents when he was younger, but a man like Fukuro would never take chances in regards of something as important as this, after all his purpose had always been to continue his bloodline.

Fukuro was taking notes completely lost in his thoughts when he heard a cracking noise coming from the terrace; he stood up and placed the book on the table when suddenly a burning smell filled his nostrils, he moved faster now and made his way to the glass door, but stopped right after crossing it, his eyes widen in surprise for a second and he slammed his fist on the door frame.

He observed the terrace, there was no one there; the beautiful place which was once covered by his mother's special collection of deadly flowers from side to side was now empty; every flower had been reduced to nothing but ashes. He walked around covering his nose and mouth using his sleeve with a stunned expression; each and every one of those flowers was dangerous by itself but all of them mixed together… he was sure the deadly combination of fumes could cause either long term or permanent damage to anyone who dared to stand there for more than a couple of seconds.

He wasn't worried about himself; his mother, as terrible as she'd been, had made sure most known poisons were of no concern to him using different methods, one of them being exposing him over and over to small amounts since his younger years.

The more he walked the more he saw this was no simple attack, but a warning; it hadn't touched any other part of the house, it had been so well controlled that the fire, as destructive as it had been, had not broken the windows. Once he got to the middle of the terrace, he saw the once beautifully made cement bench, in pieces scattered on the floor.

The thin gold lines seemed to have melted from the heat and were now returning to their solid state on the torched floor, the zodiac clock was nothing but dust; he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth when suddenly something caught his eye; above the pieces of the engraved cement bed laid a wedding invite; the once beautiful white paper still burning from its sides.

"Salamander…"

Yes, the idea of Natsu being behind this was the first thing that crossed his mind, however he disregarded it quite quickly; the Fire Dragon Slayer was strong and definitely capable of such a thing, however he was not as restrained as to not burn the house down, not only that but he had been marked by Fukuro's magic and if he had been there, he would have sensed him immediately and gotten rid of him in a heartbeat.

Of course, he was angry about the destruction, he would have to rebuild the terrace in order to continue with his plans, and although the wedding wouldn't be delayed, his wedding night would. He wasn't too worried about the attack, whomever had caused the fire would not be around for long, the poison in the fumes would take care of breaking someone's mind and body until the point of death, no normal mage would ever survive that.

* * *

Everything was ready, the wedding would be taking place outside at Lucy's request despite the cold weather; she'd always loved the garden view from her window and decided that if this was imminent, she would do it the way she pictured it.

She didn't feel defeated, her strength came from knowing he would be ok and even if it pained him, Natsu would survive whatever came his way, as long as she knew that, she could continue.

Shimmering lights, white chair rows, flowers; it looked like an actual fairy tale wedding. The aisle was decorated with a long white carpet, and to the sides on every third chair row, big metallic fire torches to keep warm in the midst of winter.

Lucy stood there observing the beautiful details and trying to hold her tears while holding Levy's hand, "So this is happening" Levy squeezed her fingers and bit her lip "Lu… We'll figure it out, everyone is working really hard"

"No Levy" the celestial mage gave her friend a sweet smile that didn't quite reach her eyes "We both know is too late for us to figure anything out. I just need to make sure Natsu is being taken care of, ok?"

"Lucy… come on, you can't give up now"

"You guys need to promise not to leave him alone, he'll be the biggest pain in the ass after I'm completely gone" There were tears running down her face along with a painful smile "Lu…"

"Promise… just do this for me…"

"I promise…"

Lucy nodded and turned on her heel to go back inside the manor; it made no sense to delay the inevitable, and with that the process started.

She took care of hair, makeup and clothes in her room, the girls sat with her during the process looking gloomier than ever; the situation hadn't completely sunk and although they knew there wasn't enough time, they kept thinking on ways to get both their friends out of this situation.

Fairy Tail was used to thinking that in the end everything would work out in their favor, because it usually did; the guild was known for the crazy amount of miracles they had managed to come up with throughout the years… but now it felt like they had finally run out of luck.

Lucy sat in front of her mirror placing the finishing touches on her hair; a couple of pearly white hair pins with golden rose flowers. She grabbed her pink lipstick and took one last look at her reflection when she heard the rushed footsteps on the aisle outside her room.

Gajeel punched the door open startling everyone while still trying to catch his breath "Get your stuff now, we are leaving"

Lucy almost wanted to laugh at his incoherent words "Wow if only I knew it was that simple Gajeel! Are you fucking kidding me?" she rolled her eyes and turned to the mirror again; Gajeel moved quickly and pulled Lucy from her shoulder, before raising his voice; it was almost a feral sound, like a growl from a wild animal, "I have no time for your shit Bunny girl! Leave everything behind and move! We've got to go"

Levy knew him well, there was no way this was a normal situation; she walked to him and grabbed his arm "What the hell is happening?"

"My nose is never wrong and believe me when I say, there's nothing good about what's coming our way, whatever the cost… we need to make sure everyone gets out of here"

"Whatever the cost?" Gajeel bit his lip and pointed at the door "Just go Levy, please!"

Gajeel was the cold sarcastic idiot everyone had learned to love but seeing that desperate look on his face was not something they were used to. The girls started running towards the stairs; everyone seemed to be moving following the lead of the same suspicious group Levy had interrupted not too long ago.

When they reached the first floor, most of the guild was already there making their way towards the door, it seemed no one knew what was happening, but they had all recognized the danger in their friend's eyes.

Gray was walking with the last of the group when he looked out the window, his mouth opened, and his eyes widen; the sight was too impressive to look away.

He saw what seemed to be his best friend walking slowly, hair covering his forehead with hooded eyes facing front, he was passed what used to be the front gate, now laid deformed and melted on the floor; Natsu was calmly making his way to the house through the middle of the road. It almost seemed as if the mere contact of his body heat was destroying everything around him.

Every step Natsu took created a flame that left a scorch mark on the stone floor, and as he moved forward the trees surrounding him would burst into flames, causing fire columns to rise every time he moved ahead and making the sky look orange and red. The beautiful tree line was now a memory, and, in its place, hell rose from below the ground making everything in the slayer's way die. He was walking at a normal pace, calm, hands in his pockets, his regular outfit and his muffler around his neck as if everything was ok.

Gray had only seen one mage kill everything around him while he walked and saying him and Natsu had a couple of things in common was an understatement; the scene made him remember Zeref, but instead of black strings suffocating life, fire was the one making it impossible for anything to survive.

He ran to the front door pulling everyone from the entrance and standing in front of them with his arms wide open; in a brave but dumb display, Gajeel, Laxus and Bickslow followed his lead.

Of course, in the midst of danger, no one was that interested in getting their host out of the house, so, he was the last one down the stairs.

"What the hell is going on here?" Fukuro was sure the fairies had been plotting against him and seeing them all together near the door was evidence enough for him.

"I told you sometimes things are better asked than stolen kid, we can't control what's going to happen now" Makarov's voice showed concern instead of his usual confidence and that was reason enough for the rest of his children to shiver.

"This is exactly what you all wanted! To ruin this day for us!"

"Boy, this is something you brought upon yourself… and we failed to stop it"

"You old fool!" Fukuro felt his anger rising, he would not let them take away everything he had worked for "Lucy come here, Now!" he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled but felt resistance.

Lucy didn't really know what was happening, but she trusted her guild mates with her life.

"Wait! Please"

Fukuro held her wrist up angrily in a way that would surely leave a bruise, he gave her that look she had feared for the last couple of months, and without warning he slapped her across the face causing her to tumble and fall to the ground.

The scene to follow unfolded almost in slow motion, just when the sharp sound of their friend being slapped echoed in everyone's ears, a bright firebolt crossed the room blinding them before hitting Fukuro in the chest with such strength that he was thrown back.

The temperature of the room became hotter every time Natsu took a step closer to them, it was almost too much to bear; each step he took was followed by the cracking sound of the marble floors breaking under the heat of his body and the pressure of his feet.

Fukuro managed raise his head and attempted to stand up, he cleaned his mouth with the back of his hand before mumbling "You are dead Salamander"

A crooked grin appeared on Natsu's face, it was not his usual smile but something else; the room froze at the sight of him taking a jump and landing on top of his prey in an animalistic way, his left arm, which was now covered in crimson scales clawed into Fukuro's shoulder, burning its way through skin and muscle.

Natsu placed his face right next to his ear "Who said you could touch her?", he pushed his claws deeper; Fukuro's blood poured on the once white and shiny floors; he gritted his teeth trying to swallow his own screams, and then grinned back with a bit of blood coming out if his mouth "Farewell Salamander…"

"NO!"

Lucy's high pitch scream resonated through the room as the realization of what was going to happen sunk in breaking everyone out of their astonishment and causing for the rest of their friends to close their eyes to avoid seeing the strongest man they have met fall under such circumstances.

She placed her face against the floor and cried, all the times he had been there to comfort her or bring her back home were rushing through her mind, the last thing she remembered was the glowing Sakura tree passing through her window and the smile of her best friend.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks to my new incredible Beta Nenley for her super fast work! Ch 12 has been edited and several details added, hopefully you'll enjoy it. I am feeling much less shitty than a few days ago, I guess writing was a good therapy. *Using Radio Voice* Stay tuned for another anxiety led nervous breakdown making way to more character trauma LOL.**

 **-A-**

* * *

"She taught me all about real sacrifice. That it should be done from love... That it should be done from necessity, not without exhausting all other options. That it should be done for people who need your strength because they don't have enough of their own."  
― Veronica Roth, Allegiant

* * *

Natsu placed his face right next to his ear "Who said you could touch her?", he pushed his claws deeper; Fukuro's blood poured on the once white and shiny floors. He gritted his teeth trying to swallow his own screams, and then grinned back with a bit of blood coming out if his mouth "Farewell Salamander…"

"NO!"

Lucy's high pitch scream resonated through the room as the realization of what was going to happen sunk in, breaking everyone out of their astonishment and causing for the rest of their friends to close their eyes to avoid seeing the strongest man they have met fall under such circumstances.

She placed her face against the floor and cried, all the times he had been there to comfort her or bring her back home were rushing through her mind, the last thing she remembered was the glowing Sakura tree passing through her window and the smile of her best friend.

* * *

Lucy was still kneeling, facing the floor with both hands covering her head; she had stopped screaming but kept sobbing loudly, everything else was silent; it seemed as if time had stopped for everyone but her, she was too scared to look up and see his body laying on the floor.

Her nightmare kept coming back to her; dark clouds covering everything and claiming everyone she loved for itself; loneliness creeping into her heart, and pain, so much pain eating away her soul in an instant. She could hear her heartbeat on her ears, and it was so loud she swore her eardrums would give.

The silence continued and every second that passed made it harder for her to face the truth, those few seconds felt like hours to her. She held on to what she could, the memories of her life at the guild seemed too beautiful and distant; she kept imagining his big innocent grin, and all the times he had pushed through his limits just to make sure everyone was safe. Sure, he tended to go overboard, but his heart was always in the right place, there wasn't a thing he wouldn't do for his family and she had always feared that instinct would take him away from her.

The beautiful memories faded away as soon as she started imagining how her life would be without him, she could see herself wasting her life away by crying on his grave, unwilling to leave his last resting place; sitting alone in her room, looking at her lonely window, closed and undisturbed by her uninvited guest; a silent guild without the constant brawling of Natsu and Gray… how colorless would life be without him now.

She bit hard on her lip until the coppery taste of blood made its way into her mouth, she was convincing herself to raise her head from the ground when a shrieking sound brought her back to the present and led her away from her nightmare. Once she was able to look up, there was no way to remove her eyes from the scene unfolding before her.

There he was, the boy with the innocent grin and the energy to go for miles; there were crimson scales covering more than half his back, left shoulder, and calf. His grin completely gone and replaced by a feral expression, even the position he took looked non-human, he resembled more of a predatory animal than to her best friend… but he was alive.

"Natsu…" Lucy didn't think about it twice, she tried to walk towards him but crashed against Gajeel's heavy arm "Now is not the time bunny girl…"

Lucy could tell his body language had changed too, his usual speed replaced by calculated slow moves as if measuring the situation "Get your hands off me Gajeel! Natsu!"

He remained unresponsive, unmoving… so unlike the person they knew. Despite of Gajeel's warnings, some of his friends started slowly moving closer thinking that he would snap out of whatever was happening to him. In a split second the room temperature skyrocketed followed by a burst of energy; the flare that came from it quickly built into a fire way that moved dangerously close to them.

"Ice-Make: Block!"

"Solid Script: Shield!"

They barely made it in time to stop the fire from reaching them; their shields quickly broke under such a powerful strike; as powerful as Gray's demon slayer magic was, and as resourceful as Levy could be, their magic was no match for Natsu's at this point.

The sense of fear invaded the room and leaked through every single pore on their bodies. One of their best friends had just attacked them without blinking, without even turning to face them. He was one of the most loyal people they knew, and still they couldn't help but think they were all in danger.

Fukuro was in pain but wasn't scared at all; his wicked smile made an appearance as he glanced at the crowd. Natsu felt a sudden sharp pain on his right eye and held his hand against it; his head has throbbing and the feeling on illness in his body was too much to contain.

He could see what was happening but couldn't stop it, just like in his nightmare about Lucy; his body felt heavy and his mind was dizzy and for some reason, certain things in his view seemed more real than others, as if there was a glossy quality to the ones that were not meant to be.

"Get out!" His growl resonated against the walls of the manor causing every single mage to shiver, it was a deeper tone than usual, raspy and rough.

Erza took a step his way and tried to reach out to him with her right hand; a second growl, deeper and more intense than the first one made her stop in her tracks "Get the fuck out!"

"Natsu… come on, let me…"

"Erza get back…" Natsu's voice was softer than before, even softer than his usual voice. His words were full of pain and regret and it tore a piece of everyone's hearts to hear him like that. He saw Erza through the corner on his eye; he had memorized her scent since they were kids, therefore it would be hard to trick him; however, the image he saw was not the one of his dear friend, but of dark shadows and claws.

The throbbing became harder and a sharp pain invaded his head causing him to release Fukuro's shoulder. Natsu was now hitting the floor with his fists; every time he looked around, the dark shadows closed in on him, and despite recognizing the scents, his eyes and mind kept playing tricks on him.

He punched the floor a couple more times, before stopping cold; he was breathing heavily for a couple of seconds before turning around to face the shadows around him. Fairy Tail went silent, Natsu's deep darkened eyes staring right at them, his sharper teeth showing. The scales had spread a bit further into his back and they glowed with the power of a volcano.

There were only a few seconds left of his sanity, and during that time he couldn't help but to go back to his last conversation with Merryl.

* * *

"But I know something no one knows lover-boy… how about we make a deal?"

"You took everything from me! What can you possibly offer?!"

"I can offer you a way to save your… non-girlfriend. But if you are not interested, then I guess we can let her and the rest of your sad friends to his mercy… let's see how that turns out for them"

"Measure your words carefully...they may be your last Merryl"

"I'm fine with that; I'm not planning to pretend I deserve any better than him. I'll tell you everything you need to know, but you need to make me a promise. If I'm telling you this then you need to make sure he is dead"

"That's not even something you need to ask for"

"Well then...what is it that you fear the most Natsu? And don't give me that crap about losing her, because that is just a consequence, not the fear itself"

"Losing everything important to me by becoming… a monster…"

"Well aren't you a cute duo. Her fear is for you to die. That little thing you feel in the back of your head is him killing you little by little"

"How is that going to help me you lying piece of shit!"

"Man, you people are dumb. He can only kill humans Natsu, humans fear. He is using her fear to kill you, but he will only accomplish to kill… well you, the actual you"

"So that's why... "

"Ding Ding! Her fear of you dying is making your fear come true, but he doesn't know that he'll be setting the demon lose. How much do you trust your friends?"

"With my life…"

"That's good. Once you are gone, you'll still be marked but he won't be able to control your fear, her fear will be reality and it will become sadness, so he won't control her either"

"What happens after that?"

"Well, you know how you just said you trust them with your life? I don't think there's a way back love, they are going to have to stop you"

* * *

Natsu stood up and cracked his neck as he allowed the scales to take over the rest of his body. The tension in the room was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife.

It took everyone by surprise when they heard three deep growls coming from different directions, they didn't know how or why, but the present situation had made the rest of the slayers react out of pure instinct. Their change wasn't visibly obvious as Natsu's, but the energy surrounding them and the look in their eyes told everyone to stay away.

Their movements were almost feral, well planned and calculated as they moved around with long stealthy steps, cold stares and sharp teeth.

Gajeel was surrounded by his shadows and covered in metal scales; Wendy automatically went to Dragon Force with an airstream swirling around her while her pink hair floated around her, Laxus despite being an "artificial" dragon slayer had adopted many of the same instincts and had a dangerous looking thunderbolt around him.

The nature of a dragon was a mystery to most people, they only knew what the slayers had told them, which wasn't much. First and third generation slayers had been raised by Dragons but their knowledge was limited, due to being by themselves at such a young age.

Everyone knew dragons were possessive of their spaces and their stuff, they were natural hoarders; however, the notion of territorialism and their reactions to incitement were not a common topic; which is why everyone was holding their breath.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, although no one was able to see it through the bright lights around them. Laxus was the first to attack trying to establish his dominance and causing the rest of the slayers to join the battle. The guild didn't know what was happening, but they wished this came from the need to protect their friends and not only to prove who was the strongest.

"Why is he not dead?! Just fucking die already!" Fukuro was now finally feeling anxious about the situation. He observed the scene playing in front of him with frustration, and he decided the game Fairy Tail played had gone too far; they had to be stopped.

The slayers kept exchanging punches, and everyone could see that this battle was not as any of the ones they've had before, no one was holding back. Gajeel had summoned his Karma Demon: Iron God Sword when from the corner of his eye he saw Fukuro raising his good arm with his palm facing Levy; there wasn't even enough time for him to panic, Levy was holding Lucy when she collapsed.

Gajeel stopped complete and turned around to go to her causing him to not pay attention to the fire covered claw about to reach him, he was thrown so far back that he was slammed against the last wall of the (barely standing) manor.

"Levy!" Lucy tried shaking her friend, the bluenette was still alive but gasping for air and every second that passed her face became paler and her lips tainted to a color that could have matched her hair. Fukuro was playing games with them, instead of killing them he had decided to trap them in a place between life and death, a permanent nightmare.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe...which mage will be next one to go" his wretched laugher echoing off the manor's walls, burning into everyone's ears. He'd been so quiet for the last few minutes and the danger in front of them was so big that the importance of his presence had been disregarded and the fairies blamed themselves for forgetting he was there.

"I feel so much fear in this room, its scent is intoxicating, like a drug"

He had figured the slayers would kill each other eventually and decided to move on to other strong guild members; after all, he had touched most of them while he played host, and now they had nowhere to run.

"This one looks promising; you are going to regret setting foot inside my house Salamander" he said before moving his hand to his next victim.

"Elfman!" Mira cried while holding Lisanna.

"NOO!" Lisanna's shout of agony filled the room. Bruises and cuts appeared on her body as she shook on the ground on her sister's arms.

"Lisanna!" Elfman and Mira were crying looking at their sister drift away from them once again; they had lived through that once and the mere thought of them doing it again was already unbearable.

Natsu was the one to stop now observing the scene as small memories crossed his mind; he saw himself sitting on the little house Lisanna had built to care for the egg he'd found, laughing at something he had said. That second caused him to lose focus, and to be knocked on the ground by an electric stream that cracked the scales on his left arm.

Juvia was standing behind Gray when she noticed Fukuro smiling and staring at him. Her heart stopped for a second before she turned him around and held him; Gray was confused and annoyed, even at this time, she managed to get her priorities mixed.

"Juvia what the hell are you doing!" He tried to push her away, but she resisted with all her strength.

"Juvia is sorry she was such a pain Gray-sama"

He stopped pushing and looked at the tears running down her face; she lifted her head to look at him "Juvia really does love you. Juvia hopes you are happy someday" She pushed him aside and ran towards Fukuro who saw right through her.

"You guys are so fucking predictable" Aiming now at Juvia he closed his hand and with that, she was on the ground. It almost seemed as she was melting into water, as if her body slowly lost the ability to maintain its form.

Gray landed on his knees; he was in such a state of shock he didn't notice the tears streaming down his face. She had done it again… she had sacrificed herself for him once more and he had done nothing. The woman who had fought her way into his heart was laying there in front of the person who was, little by little breaking his family apart.

The dark marks of the demon slayer made their way into his arm, chest and face, and with an incredible speed, he charged towards Fukuro. Gray grabbed his neck and got him of the ground, he placed his hand on his chest and started freezing him, he wanted to cause him all the pain he could, so, he was aiming to make this last.

"You killed her!"

Fukuro clenched his teeth to hide the pain "Oh no Mr. Fullbuster, you killed her. Well she's still dying but this is your fault, she'll drift like water on your fingers because she decided to give her life before I took yours"

Natsu shook his head as he stood up from the ground. The ceiling was barely there, and half the walls were broken, the stairway was shattered but those details didn't matter. The hit he took cleared his mind enough to gain some conscious, but he knew that wouldn't last.

He saw Gray holding onto Fukuro, his friend crying as he'd never seen him cry before, and Juvia lying behind him, his eyes moved a bit more to see Gajeel making his way to Levy, screaming at her to wake up; and finally, Lisanna on the floor being held by her brother and sister.

He grabbed his chest and held his hand to his heart and then he saw her. Lucy was still kneeling watching him while hitting the floor with her opened hand, she was screaming something, but he couldn't hear her, all his senses were numbed. It sounded like a muffled echo.

"Natsu! Natsu!"

He couldn't let this happen; he was determined to not let any of them carry the burden of taking a life, whether it was his life or Fukuro's was irrelevant to him at that point. In the blink of an eye, Natsu was standing between Gray and his enemy.

"Get out of my way flame brain!" Gray threw a punch at Natsu who held his fist and squeezed it.

"He's mine Ice-prick. Step away"

There was something odd, Gray couldn't point it out. That was a very Natsu-like answer, but he didn't look like himself anymore. He wondered… was he even Natsu anymore?

Natsu clawed Fukuro's shoulder violently and dragged him, leaving a blood trail on the once white marble floor, he slammed the dark mage against the floor and stood on top of him, a foot on each side.

"Well whatever you do to me now Salamander, won't bring anyone back. You've caused your friends such a loss"

Natsu's grin returned; he looked a bit more in control now "I have… and they don't deserve it, but…do you want to know what you did wrong? You messed with the wrong family pal"

He let his weight fall as he sat on Fukuro's stomach and he held his head down with one hand, while the other moved towards his shoulder. He pointed one of his black claws underneath the gashing wound he had caused and poked the skin before moving to draw a circle.

Fukuro fought as much as he could to remove Natsu's burning hand from his forehead, but his physical strength couldn't hold a candle to his opponent.

Once Natsu closed the circle, he removed the fabric first exposing the black owl mark on his shoulder. He then placed his claws on top of it, putting enough pressure to make him bleed again; with one swift move he pulled his claw back, removing the skin patch completely and throwing it to the side as if it was nothing but garbage.

Fukuro screamed and cried in pain while everyone shockingly observed Natsu still holding him down, not showing the slightest amount of mercy, or flinching at the sight of the pain he was causing.

"Why won't you die!?"

"Oh, that… I'm sure I did, o kind of did… It hurts like a mother fucker, great job!" Natsu got his face closer to Fukuro's "Riddle me this… what do you get when you try to kill the human holding a demon inside?"

"But you… you are not…" Even then Fukuro's face was not one of panic, but confusion. Cana felt a shock down her spine. The cards kept showing suffering, sacrifice, an unbreakable bond, and then nothing.

"How could I be so stupid!?" She raised her hands to the ceiling in exasperation; it had been in front of her all along. Makarov and Erza had been busy trying to contain as much magic as they could to protect the rest and were almost out of power when Cana approached them.

"Erza! it wasn't nothing. It was NOTHING!"

"Cana now is not the time!"

"You don't get it! It's THE nothing, nothing else after! END!" The guild members who were still standing looked at Cana while they let the information sink in. After the last time, they didn't think Natsu could go back to that state, Zeref was gone and his book had been rewritten after all.

Natsu saw them connecting the dots and used all the power he had to keep himself together. He yelled at them from the distance "It's ok! I snapped, seems all that training is paying off guys"

Lucy smiled, her heart swelled knowing her friend was there, standing so close to her; his voice sounded almost normal again; she got up quickly to run towards him but he lifted his hand and signaled her to stop.

"Don't…" she stopped and held her hand above her heart "But Natsu, you said you were ok"

"Luce… I'll hold on for as much as I can, but this is it… I can't do this anymore. I just have a couple things to do before…"

"Before?..."

"Before you guys have to take me out" he tried to smile at them, which turned out to be harder than he thought. The one thing Natsu had always managed to do was smile in any situation, of course, it wasn't always an honest smile but a promise he had made and had kept over the years.

"Are you out of your mind!? You are our family!" Lucy's words tasted bitter in her mouth, just thinking about it made her heartache "I could never hurt you Natsu, please!"

"Listen… It's not too late Luce. None of them are dead yet, but they are suffering so much, I can't let this happen. If I do this now, maybe, they won't leave... They are also family Luce, I need to make sure everyone's safe"

"You, stupid child! no one can undo what I did!" Fukuro was still laying on the ground, covering his bloody shoulder with one hand and staring at them with as much hate as his heart could contain. The thin thread holding Natsu teared a bit again and he could only shake his head to try to keep it together. A deep growl came from Natsu's throat as he sank his claws through Fukuro's ribs; not killing him yet.

"Take them away gramps" Makarov sighed deeply before nodding; he ordered them out noticing some stayed behind. Gajeel held Levy and gave her to Jet and Droy. "Take care of her"

"What in Mavis' name do you brats think you're doing?" Makarov's voice sounded harsher than before. Erza stared directly at him "We're seeing this through Master. No one in the family is left behind"

Makarov shook his head. He knew there was nothing he could do about this now "Natsu…"

"I said don't want you here" Natsu's voice quickly became deeper as he was barely holding on. Gray cleaned the tears of his face with the back of his hand "Well tough luck flame brain, we ain't leaving your side"

"I don't need you here!" The room temperature rose again and the flames around him flickered dangerously; every time his voice became deeper and turned more into a growl.

"Why do you have to kill him? We… we can call the council; let them take him!" The sweet voice of a sobbing Lucy came from the back, still in the same place she was before and Natsu's heart broke again; he didn't dare to look at her "I… promised. He needs to know what real fear is before he dies… and he will"

Finally, a glimpse of fear was visible in Fukuro's eyes "That treacherous redhead bitch… " Natsu couldn't help but grin "Oh I'll give you something to fear all right… "

The remaining mages were overwhelmed by the stunning dark aura that came from Natsu's body as he smashed Fukuro against the wall without releasing his hold on him "Are you ready to show your friends the real monster Salamander? There's no way back from that"

He had barely finished his sentence when Erza sword went through the wall right next to his face cutting his cheek a bit.

"Don't ever… call my friend a monster; I only see one monster in this room… and that's not him"

Gray, Laxus, Gajeel, Bickslow and Lucy stood behind Erza. Everyone had a strong fighting aura surrounding them, Fukuro felt a shiver going through his spine at the sight of such strong people after their revenge, his train of thought was quickly interrupted by Natsu.

"I asked you guys to leave…"

"And we told you, we ain't leaving" Gray crossed his arms above his chest; he was determined to seeing this through for the sake of his friends, and Juvia

"I don't want any of you or the guild involved, and that's final"

"Right… and what are you doing to do? Force us out?" Laxus stared at him defiantly; as soon as he looked at Natsu he frowned, he didn't look cornered by them, and that created a sense of uneasiness that he wasn't expecting.

"Guys… I'm really sorry"

That's the last thing they remembered. They woke up to their guild mates calling their names desperately and pulling them out of the fire that was quickly consuming the manor. None of them had any severe injuries aside from minor burns and bruises.

The rest of their guild mates took them outside, where they stayed at a safe distance from the fire. Erza was startled by Lucy screaming at Master Makarov.

"Where is he? We need to go get him!'

"Lucy we don't know where he is! He is gone…"

"No he is not! It was him at the end! I know it was. Tell me where he went!" she was desperately crying while clenching her fists "Please… we need to find him"

Erza looked at her friends. Everyone was grieving by themselves; Gray was sitting on the floor holding Juvia, and caressing her face, the same as Gajeel with Levy; Mira and Elfman were holding on to Lisanna by her hands trying to wake her up.

"What happened?"

Jet knelt next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, but Erza shook it off.

"Jet… What happened?"

"We don't really know. After we went outside a huge fireball exploded, we thought you were all gone Erza, but… when we went inside you were just knocked out"

"And Natsu?"

"He was gone. Makarov asked me to search the grounds; I never thought he could outrun me…" Jet sounded disappointed on himself, he was biting on his lip and tightening his fists.

It was late, and they needed to figure out what to do before they went anywhere. They savaged as much as they could, but it seemed like it was going to be a long night.

No one was really talking to each other; everyone felt so powerless. It had been a few hours since the incident when they heard Gray.

"Juvia!"

They all ran thinking that the worse had finally happened, but they soon found the ice mage holding on to Juvia who had just opened her eyes.

"Gray-sama?..."

"What…how…" he was still holding her tightly."Gray-sama you are holding Juvia too tight"

"I-I'm sorry" he gave her some space. He started cleaning the tears from his eyes when her hand found his face.

"Why is Gray-Sama crying" Gray touched her cheek with his hand "I thought…I thought you were gone. I still had so much to tell you…"

Juvia smiled and cleaned the rest of the tears from his face "Gray-sama will have all the time to tell Juvia. Juvia will never leave Gray-sama's side"

He very soon realized everyone was observing the sudden display of emotion and blushed, trying to interrupt the attention, he brought up something everyone was meaning to ask.

"Ok so she is back. How are Lisanna and Levy?"

Erza shook her head "They are still the same"

"Why is Juvia back? I mean it doesn't make sense for her to be the only one"

Lucy walked their way with a sad expression "He's still fighting this battle for us. Whatever he is doing, he said it was the only way to maybe bring them back"

Gray looked to the sky "Damn it Natsu, where are you?"

Mira joined the conversation, she was still crying. "That still doesn't explain why Juvia is the only one back"

"Levy would know why…" Gajeel was resting on a tree still refusing to let go of Levy.

Lucy saw him defeated, as if everything good in the world had evaporated from his hands. She decided it was time to stop crying, her family still needed her.

"Look, I don't know why, but what I do know is that for the past three months we've put that man through hell and back, me mostly; and he's still taking care of us" a few people started nodding.

"I don't know why he did what he did, but I know him, and he is all about defending his family" She grabbed her chin and thought for a second "Whatever he did, he was sure it was the only way to get us out! Now it is our time to repay him. We need to find him and bring him home" the voices of agreement filled the place; Erza smiled at Lucy and nodded thanking her silently.

"We first need to take care of our injured people" Makarov's voice broke the short celebration "They are incapable of waking up, but they seem to be holding on. We need to take them to safety now. Tomorrow we will bring our boy back home, whatever it takes"

Cheering in the form of a Fairy Tail war scream erupted. The next day the search for their friend would start, they could only hope to be ready for what they found.


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter contains a lot of scene changes since we are back to skipping from one character to the other. Thanks to my Beta Nenley!**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."**

 **― Edgar Allan Poe**

* * *

*POV Fukuro Tatsuma*

My head was throbbing, and I felt like throwing up, I tried opening my eyes and even that was too painful at first… little by little I was able to do so, and when I did I saw the devil himself staring right at me with his playful grin on his face.

I tried to identify my surroundings but it was of no use, the place was semi dark and covered with rock, it seemed to be an old cave of some sort; the one thing I could tell was that my hands were tied above my head and my feet didn't touch the ground.

In the darkness surrounding the cave, there was only one light to focus on; the warm light came from the man standing before me, if he could even be called a man at this point. It was ironic, not long ago I was sure he would die at my command and now that I was before him, without my mark…and limited options..

Losing my mark would reduce my potential but not completely eliminate my natural given gifts; of course I would not be able to kill him, but I had not been able to do that before either, so that was not a big concern; I could still see his fears and although I couldn't materialize them, I would still use it to make him suffer, just as my parents had taught me.

The dragon slayer was sitting on a rock, elbows on his knees with his face resting nonchalantly on his hands, his smirk allowed his fangs to show in an obvious and sad attempt to intimidate me. He stared for a few more minutes before speaking, his voice was deep and harsh.

"Good morning"

"Salamander…"

"Oh, well I think our relationship has moved on from formalities, we should be on first name basis Fukuro"

"Where are we?"

"I think it's very obvious we are in a cave man" he poked his head with his index finger "I thought you were the smart one"

"Whatever your plan is… I can't bring them back even if I offer"

"Oh, but I know… you can't… but I can make you. You see a little bird told me a story, about you and your family which I intend to prove"

A shiver ran down my spine, but it wasn't that I was afraid of the pain he could cause, it was his grin… that face reminded me of my father; a soulless man with no fear, a man who had made a business out of the suffering of others. I couldn't help but laugh at his intent, after all, I've played this game before and I know exactly how it ends; if there was one thing I could thank my parents for, it would be that I am not an easy man to scare.

"I'm sure it's funny… for now Fukuro. But let's give it some time and see how it turns out"

"This is a dangerous game you are playing. I can still see you, you tried so hard to hide yourself, but you are still there, your fear may have changed, and you may have put your humanity away but I'm a patient man"

The demon laughed once more "Do you think seeing me will serve you? I don't need to hide my humanity to make you pay… you don't deserve any mercy!"

He walked with determination and stood so close I could feel the fire on his breath, I looked at his eyes, his pupils were dilated, I should have guessed the fumes from the garden wouldn't have killed him, not him… and now I had nothing to do but to pray whatever effect it had on him wouldn't push him over the edge.

He raised one of his fingers to show his black claw and he poked my chest with it; its tip was sharper than a sword and I couldn't help but flinch.

"There's nowhere to run now Fukuro… how does it feel to be held against your will?" he pressed harder, I could feel my blood trickle down my chest "Maybe we should ask Lucy how she felt? Being held in your house for months!" he pulled his claw down making a cut from my chest to my navel; although it was not deep enough to kill me, the pain that came with it was excruciating, and whatever little oxygen I could get was filled with the heat from his fire.

I was sure I would bleed out, but then he lit a second claw on fire "You ain't dying today" he traced the rim of wound to burn it close; I could smell my own flesh burning, the fumes went up my nose and made me nauseated before the pain knocked me out. I had a dream, or maybe a memory…

I was a child, I ran to my mother with the biggest smile I could "Mother! Look at what I made!" I felt proud of myself, and I wanted her to feel it too. She stared at me for a couple of seconds, not even bothering to see the object I held on my hands "Is this what you do with your precious time? You are meant for greatness not silly crafts"

"But I thought we could fly it later, the day is lovely" I looked at my yellow and orange kite, perfectly made, not one single wrinkle on it; its tail was long and filled with small bows that matched the golden details I had painted.

She must have noticed my disappointed because she smiled at me and for the first time in forever, she ruffled my hair "How about another time? Right now, it's time for your bath"

I walked to the room still holding hope on the day to come; I placed the kite on the table outside of my bathroom and entered still surprised that my mother was coming with me and not Alicia. I took my clothes off and entered the tub while my mother sat on the floor next to me.

She undid the sleeves of her dress and pulled them up "I know we seem harsh, but you know why that is, right?"

"Because… you want me to be great?"

"Greatness, my son, is not achieved by flying a silly kite… It's achieved by conquering your fears. A true owl knows no fear"

She took the shampoo bottle and poured it on my head, it felt nice to feel her warmth for a change; I didn't remember what her caresses felt like, I wished the moment could have lasted longer.

"Ok so now, take a deep breath, it's time to rinse" She smiled at me while she caressed my hair and cleared the bubbles from my forehead; I didn't mind not flying the kite anymore, this moment with my mother was more precious than anything else.

She placed her hand above my head "Ok, ready?" I nodded as she helped me go underwater and brushed my hair to remove the excess soap.

Once I felt it was ok, I pushed myself up but her hand was still on my head; I didn't understand why so I pushed harder and tapped her arm with my hand, but she didn't move. I kicked and pushed my arms, but she didn't let go until I finally stopped; my arms, legs and eyes felt heavy and I caved.

I woke up coughing water while Alicia held me on her arms while singing a lullaby and rubbing my back "You are ok my boy, take deep breaths, I won't ever leave your side"

* * *

"You took your time to come back, sounded like you had an interesting dream. What was it about?" he sat before me, his dark eyes piercing through me with his big grin, I hated everything he was… everything he meant in a way no one would ever know "This is not going to work; you are wasting your time"

"We are just starting. I'm all fired up now"

* * *

It didn't take long for the mages to regroup and take their injured friends to the nearest hospital, one of the best since the town had thrived even more than before under the new administration.

Makarov was beyond frustrated, despite his best attempts to explain their situation, it seemed his good luck and diplomacy would not work this time. He was talking to a tall brunette that had a stethoscope on her neck; she didn't seem happy with the current conversation and kept pushing her glasses up every couple of minutes while trying to hide her obvious eye roll.

"As I said, we just need them to stay here and for you to monitor them. We'll have people from the guild to care for them; this is not a complicated request"

"Master Makarov, I understand, but we need to follow protocol"

"Is it not your job to care for people in need? Well they are in need!"

"They can be admitted and tested; they'll be treated by our best doctors, that way we can find out what they have"

Makarov pinched the bridge of his nose "There's nothing you can do for them! This is not an illness"

"Sir, you say this is not an illness, so, then I must assume this is magic related, and if that's the case, you know that the council needs to be notified"

"The council doesn't need to be notified, they just need to be cared for while we take care of our business. Do you understand this is a request by the guild master?!"

"You have no power here. Either you let us treat them and help, or we notify the council… It is up to you"

"Fine…"

Makarov slammed the door behind him and walked to the waiting area that was now filled with all guild members; even the ones who were not at the manor had been notified and had decided to quickly make their way as soon as they heard the situation.

They all stood up once he arrived waiting for news. Erza was the first one to ask.

"What's the verdict?" The Master took a deep breath before facing front "They will follow standard protocol; since we refuse to admit this is magic related they'll test them and treat them"

"Master… it won't take them long to figure out this is not medical..." he shook his head and scrunched his nose "I Know…" Erza balled her hands and bit her lip "But once they do…"

"Once they do, the council will be informed. We don't have much time"

Lucy, worried about the implications of this, and couldn't stay silent; her mind was going a thousand miles per hour "What will happen if the council finds out?"

"Lucy… nothing good will happen if the council finds out, but how bad it will be depends on whether Fukuro is alive or dead" Lucy was speechless; Natsu killing someone out of vengeance was something she refused to believe

"He wouldn't do it… He wouldn't be capable of it" Just as she finished saying that Gajeel stood up angrily and pushed his way into the conversation.

"He said the only way to bring them back was to kill him! Are you seriously considering letting him live? After what he did!?"

"We understand Gajeel, but if we don't stop him..."

"You understand? You understand shit! She is there fighting for her life! If Natsu doesn't kill him, then I will!" He stormed out of the building with Lucy running after him; she was barely able to catch up.

"Gajeel wait!"

"You ain't changing my mind bunny girl; get the fuck out of my way!"

"I'm not trying to change your mind you idiot! Please… just listen"

Gajeel stopped but avoided her eyes; he knew this wasn't her fault, but he couldn't help to blame her anyways "I'll give you a minute… Speak…"

"Just… bring him home..." He scrunched his nose and looked away, he was angry, but the smell of salty tears was never something he enjoyed, specially not from one of his friends "We will find a way to keep the council off his back, please Gajeel"

"I can't promise anything"

"I know… just try? Take this with you; no one knows I took it, if anything happens with Levy, I'll let you know"

She handed him a communication lacrima which he put away quickly before nodding and moving on. He wasn't sure how he was going to find Natsu, but he knew if someone had a chance to, it was him; no one had his keen sense of smell nor had been running for as long as he did before finding a home.

* * *

Fukuro's POV

I lost of perception of time; within the dark cave I couldn't see the days pass by. Have I been here for hours? Days? I knew it had been quite some time… my mouth felt dry and my stomach was empty, that doesn't happen in a couple of hours. He refuses to let me die and cares for me only enough to keep me on the edge which considering… may be much worse than simply dying.

Every cut was burnt closed, the bones set back as well as he could, but not all at the same time, he would stop if I lost consciousness and took care of the rest after I woke up. Maybe he enjoys it, or maybe Merryl really did betray me at last.

He seemed exhausted, dark circles on his eyes, and shaky hands; no matter how strong he is, it was impossible for him not suffer any effects from the lack of sleep and the garden fumes. Finally, I saw an opportunity when he laid far from me on the floor; the demon may be invincible, but the human definitely needed to get some rest.

I'm aware I won't make it out of here by myself, even if my hands were not immobilized; I'm sure my leg is broken, it certainly hurts as it if was, I can barely feel my arms anymore… I've been hanging from them for too long, and this is without the pain that I have become so familiar with.

My opportunity came in the form of his dream. I don't need to control him anymore, just to find him inside his head, the biggest power you can have on people will always be their greatest fears and deepest desires.

"I'm Back!"

"Why did you come back Natsu?" Gray using his actual name was odd enough, but the way it rolled out of his tongue was as painful as a stab.

"What do you mean why? I live here Ice-Princess"

"You were banned from here! Get it in your head!"

"Wh… you are crazy!" he looked at his shoulder to see his guild mark gone. He looked up and Gray wasn't there anymore. Erza was now standing in front of him.

"How could you? Did you really think we would be happy to take you back?"

"Erza… but I… I did what I had to! You need to understand" He blinked twice and now saw Master Makarov; the look he gave him sent chills down his spine.

"Gramps…"

"I should have left you where I found you. I never thought you would bring such shame to the guild" Makarov turned his back to him, and the guild darkened.

Natsu tried to run after him but wasn't able to catch up. He saw Lucy crying in a corner and ran to her; he tried to hold her hand and was rejected immediately.

"Just leave! When did you become such a monster!? Because of you they're gone!"

* * *

Fukuro's POV

The demon woke up trying to catch his breath, he held his right hand above his chest as if trying to reach for something invisible; the faint light from the fire showed me how exhausted he looked soaked in sweat from the nightmare. I should have known better than to taunt him but I couldn't help ù he would break his neck and in a second the demon burst into flames and charged towards me; his face was inches away from mine… he placed his hands on the sides of my body touching only the stone behind me.

I could feel the stone behind my back heating, its bright orange glow only making my painful expression more visible to him as his hands made it hotter every time. I did the only thing I could and screamed in pain.

From all the wretched smells in the world, there's nothing as horrid as the one accompanied by awareness… the knowledge that it is your own skin melting, your fatty tissue bubbling while its fumes fill your lungs. I found some strength buried deep within and tried to pull away, but he pushed one of his hands against my chest making it impossible… I could feel my skin sticking to the stone.

I don't remember much after that; I passed out again from the pain.

* * *

*Lacrima rings*

"Master Makarov…"

"Yes, what can I do for you today?"

"It has been brought to the council's attention that a couple of your guild members suffered from a dark magic curse, do you deny it?"

"Well I haven't been made aware of the hospital's findings yet, council member…" Makarov knew an indirect answer was his best shot and was ready to be as ambiguous as he could.

"Fortunately, we have. You admitted them in the hospital a day after we received a report of an attack in the Tastuma Manor, is this a coincidence?"

"I believe there are no coincidences. You should do thorough research to collect as much information as you need to draw your conclusions"

"Fine, have it your way. Fairy Tail has been summoned for questioning first thing tomorrow morning"

"And we will be happy to oblige, however, as you know we are still in the hospital waiting for news, and to mobilize an entire guild will be more than a bit complicated; we still have people on mission and…"

"Oh, that won't be a problem" Makarov could hear the slight change on the voice, he was sure the man was smiling on the other end of the lacrima "We mobilized our inquisitors hours ago; they should be there before midnight and ready to proceed with the questioning in the morning. The hospital has provided us with a room to dispose of"

Makarov clenched his teeth. There was nothing more to do.

* * *

Fukuro's POV

I wasn't sure I was awake… or alive really; I felt as if all my nerves were exposed but for some bizarre reason the pain was tolerable. I managed to open my eyes a bit and saw him pacing in the cave. He looked off and kept talking to himself.

"I can't sleep; if I sleep, he'll see me. So, it's ok, I'll stay awake… I can do this" he turned and paced the other way and rubbed his face "No, no, no, you can't stay awake that long idiot, you'll lose it!" he turned again and waved his hands "I have to, there's no other way. Someone needs to take him out"

"We need to rush this; yeah… we just need to rush this and it'll be ok" His pacing stopped and he started walking towards me before grabbing my shoulders to make sure I was awake "Are we feeling better today?"

"Man, you look awful, you should probably sleep some… don't you think?"

"HA! You'd like that. I don't need to sleep, also have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You look much older now, is the lack of light affecting you?"

I knew what he meant, my power was being drained out and there was no doubt in my mind now of what he wanted to accomplish; Merryl had sold me out and there was nothing I could do about it, she had given my worst enemy the key to explode my weakness.

I did not care to answer, my back was still sticking to the rock wall behind me; he kept holding my shoulders and looking at me with that grin… that awful grin; I felt like a mouse being played with by a cat, in the end he would devour me.

If I felt like my nerves were exposed before, I had been wrong… He suddenly pulled me from the stone ripping the skin of my back, letting the oxygen hit the burn and causing a new wave of pain to invade my senses. I was in agony… I cried and yelled so hard he had to cover his ears to save his eardrums from the high-pitched sound.

And just like that, I was gone again. A second dream which I wish I never had popped into my head.

I pushed the doors opened and ran in the big aisle from the top floor, I kept running until I reached my parent's room and opened their door carefully; I was scared of waking them up too… but in that moment I had to choose the thing I feared the most and at the moment, the thunderstorm was winning.

I was crying my eyes out, the loud noises were echoing on the walls and hurting my ears, so I stood next to my father and as if he knew I was there… he opened her eyes immediately and stared, notoriously confused by my presence; I should have known… there was no surprising my father.

"Can I please stay here; it will only be for tonight, I promise!" He sat on his bed and opened his arms, I felt so happy… I reached out to him and he held me tight and sat me down next to him.

"This is a silly storm son; you can't allow yourself to be scared"

"But I am! I want to stay here, please!"

"You need to conquer your fears my boy" He opened his shirt and showed me his own mark "This is more than just a symbol, this is our strength, our legacy"

"Papa… please" My father's face hardened; he shook his head and grabbed my arm, he pulled me so harshly from the bed I almost landed on my face.

"It will serve you right to learn to deal with fear. I think you need to think about it for a while" He opened the dark mahogany trunk at the foot of his bed; he picked me up and laid me inside without flinching.

"I'm sorry! I won't cry anymore!"

"Words are just that my boy. If you want to survive then you'll need to be strong, a true owl knows no fear… don't ever forget that"

"Don't close it! Father not the trunk please!"

I pushed it with all my strength; it was useless… he had closed and locked the trunk. I kept crying until I heard the voices outside… My mother had woken up, she was upset; I thought maybe, just maybe she would ask him to take me out, and she did… my noises were not letting her sleep, so she asked my father to take me and the trunk out of the room.

He dragged me to the door, mumbling and complaining of doing such things with his own hands. My crying continued for hours; I'm not sure what time it was when they allowed Alicia to unlock it. I wasn't crying anymore... nor would I ever cry again.

* * *

*Lacrima rings*

"Gajeel?"

"Is she ok?"

"She is the same, I'm sorry. I'm not calling about Levy, Lisanna is awake"

"When?"

"She woke up about an hour ago; there were a lot of people here, so I couldn't call you"

"So that means Levy is the only one…"

"Yeah, that also means Natsu is close to completing whatever he is going to do. Gajeel you need to find him…"

"I told ya… I ain't stopping him"

"I know, but you promised you'd try to bring him home…have you gotten any leads?"

"It's only been a couple of days; I'm just a few towns away and I've taken simple jobs just to try and find some information… nothing has paid off so far. I heard about a fire mage, but it turned out to be another smug"

"I see. Gajeel...The council was notified; the guild has been called for questioning. You need to hurry"

"Then lie… you've gotten pretty good at that"

"Look smartass, they'll be using runes for questioning, it's not that simple. And yeah, I lied! I thought I was keeping you all safe"

"And tell me, how did that work out for you?"

"Gajeel… I'm…"

"I know… just… call when it's over, or if you have news on Levy, otherwise don't bother"

* * *

*Back to Natsu and Fukuro*

I opened my eyes to find him staring at me again, this guy was seriously creeping me out "Hell… I thought I had father issues. I guess what they say is true… near the end you start thinking on how you got here"

"What are you talking about?"

"You kind of talked in your sleep... a bit; not enough, but we'll get there"

"Do you really think tearing my bones and burning my skin will break me? It's eating you inside lizard"

"That may be true… but I'm not under the impression there's any salvation left for me, and I rather for it to eat me than to let you take the people I love. So, are we ready to continue?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Huge thanks to Silken Ink for his reviews and advise! (I'm working on it! Hopefully you'll enjoy this one** **) also to FairyTail-Fanfic-Reader for being so supportive!**

 **Hope everyone has an awesome New Years!**

 **Note: _Italic will be indicating thoughts or dreams_**

* * *

" **Time takes it all whether you want it to or not, time takes it all. Time bares it away, and in the end there is only darkness. Sometimes we find others in that darkness, and sometimes we lose them there again."**

― **Stephen King**

* * *

Time was up, Makarov needed to think fast in order to switch the tables on the council; it was obvious that during the questioning they would use runes to be able to recognize the truth, and this disturbed him deeply.

While he could give half-truths to the council with ambiguous responses, he was sure not all of his children had enough life experience to have acquired this powerful tool, and even if they did, the inquisitors would pick on their scabs to get answers.

The door opened letting the sunlight in and exposing the inquisitor. She was tall, purple hair and had big brown eyes under a small pair of red glasses. She walked in with a smug face, and a steady pace. She stopped in front of Makarov and pushed her glasses up with her index finger.

"Master Makarov, you are hereby commanded by the authority of the council to present the requested guild members for questioning"

Makarov rolled his eyes at the formality of it but felt compelled to respond. The council sure had a flair for drama, which annoyed him terribly.

"I, Makarov, Fairy Tail guild Master, recognize the authority of the council. As I mentioned to them previously, some members may not be available for questioning. If I could get a list..."

She interrupted Makarov harshly "We shall proceed by questioning those here and anyone that arrives within the time frame in which my presence is required. I need some time to prepare the room and will call each shortly"

Makarov frowned at her angrily, showing a twitch on his right eye "One would think you would be educated enough to show some respect to a guild master, or at least to introduce yourself"

The corner of her lip rose a bit as she exaggeratedly bowed with fake respect "Shanna, official council inquisitor, at your service. Master Makarov, is there anything else you would like to know?"

Makarov shook his head and signaled her to move on. The inquisitor walked to the nurse station, looking for the doctor who made the report. They both disappeared into the aisle as the Doctor led her to the space assigned to her.

Twenty minutes passed while the fairy tail members nervously looked at each other. Different groups were discussing about possible questions and outcomes. A shadow appeared on the aisle interrupting their conversations.

"I call Gray Fullbuster"

Gray stood up and walked behind the woman; he kept his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor. He kept thinking on how much he could fuck this up for his friend; saying too much or too little could make everything worse. -Fuck… I had to be the first one-

"Please sit Mr. Fullbuster"

He sat in a nonchalant way, almost laying on the chair, it was obvious he was trying very much to look calm and relaxed. He rested his arms on the chair and looked at the inquisitor who was observing his every move.

"I will ask two questions for control first, please answer the first one with the truth, and the second one with a lie"

"Shoot…"

"Is your name Gray Fullbuster?"

"Yes"

"Who trained you as a mage?"

"Mh... Master Makarov?"

A rune wall suddenly surrounded him flashing in shiny red, he knew they were there, but it startled him anyways. His confidence level descended a bit as he realized that the task before him wouldn't be an easy one.

"Which is your dominant power, and please elaborate"

"Ice Make… I can create things with ice magic and attack with it, and freeze stuff… "

"Do you have any experience with fire magic?"

"Not personal experience, I've seen it, but I don't use it"

"Do you have information on what happened to the two guild members who were admitted in this hospital?"

"I don't know exactly how it happened or how to fix it" He looked at the runes to make sure they stayed the same. Technically, he wasn't lying, he had no idea how that power worked.

"Were you aware this "illness" wasn't medical but magic related"

"Mh… Yes"

"Why wasn't this reported immediately?"

"We thought we could fix it ourselves without the involvement of the council"

"Did this happen during the event held in the Tatsuma manor on December 31st?

"Yes"

"What was this event for?"

Gray tried not to react to the question, but his body language was difficult to control; he clenched his jaw and sat up before responding.

"We were there for a wedding"

"A wedding between Lucy Heartfilia and Fukuro Tatsuma?"

"Yes" He was trying not to alert the inquisitor. A thin line of sweat made an appearance on his forehead.

"What stopped the wedding from happening?"

"We… there was a fight"

Shanna tilted her head; she knew there was something else to that answer "This fight, who participated on it?"

"Everyone did, I mean when it all happened we just tried to protect each other"

"I'm going to need more details"

"Then I guess you need to ask the correct question, don't you?" His temper was getting the best of him; he was annoyed by the way the inquisitor was fishing for information. His anxiety was obvious as he switched his position and laid his elbows on his knees.

The inquisitor gave him a challenging stare; she straightened her back and grinned at him "Do you know who started the attack on the manor?"

"That depends on how you see it; I don't have an easy answer for that"

"Mr. Fullbuster, your cooperation has been demanded by the council"

Gray was usually bothered by a handful of things but being ordered what to do was in his top five. Not only that but he couldn't stop thinking this woman was there to get only what she wanted to hear, not the full story.

"What do you want me to say? Do you want me to tell you who threw the first punch or who was responsible for everything that happened before and after?"

"I don't think you understand the severity of the situation. One of society's highest members is missing, his house burned to the grounds. I want to know who attacked the house, there's no amount of background story that would justify what happened"

For Gray, that was the last straw. "Well then I guess there's no reason to continue with this. I'm here to tell the truth, and I don't think you are searching for it"

"Are you refusing to continue with the questioning?"

"I guess I am"

The runes appeared again but they now looked black. Gray stood up and tried to leave but just managed to crash against the almost invisible wall surrounding him "What the hell is this? Let me out!"

"Don't underestimate the council… The runes won't deactivate until you put these on. Gray Fullbuster you will remain in custody until the council decides to release you"

"On what grounds?!"

"Oh I'll think of something, accessory to kidnap Fukuro Tatsuma, or maybe facilitator to the perpetrator. We'll see how you come out after the investigation" Shanna gave him a cocky smirk before handing him the cuffs.

There was nothing he could do. Magic blocking cuffs were used to stop him from using his ability, and he was starting to wonder what the right thing to do was. He was escorted to a separate room and then she went to get her next target.

Makarov stood in front of her before the end of the aisle; he noticed she was alone, and this alarmed him even more.

"Where is he?"

"Not that I need to respond to you, but he will remain in custody until I discover if he had something to do with the disappearance of Mr. Tatsuma"

"He had nothing to do with it! None of them did! How come you are treating the victims as if they were responsible for this?"

"Master I see many things here, victims not being one of those things. Throughout the years, your guild has given more problems to the council than every single guild combined...multiplied by a hundred. Do you really expect me to believe that the so called strongest guild is full of helpless victims?"

Makarov clenched his jaw, he was getting the impression that the council would rather retaliate than to do their job. If the council decided to make an example out of them, the results could be catastrophic.

"We ARE the strongest guild; we've been of great service to this realm and the council. My children have saved them all a thousand times without fear of risking their lives and you are treating them as criminals?"

She smiled at him and pressed her hand against her chest "They have, and we appreciate it; but that doesn't mean they get a free pass… Master". She walked passed him while he stood still. He didn't remember the last time he felt this powerless or useless.

"I call Gajeel Redfox"

"He is out on a mission"

"I see, and who are you if I may ask"

"Laxus Dreyar"

"Dreyar? So you are…"

"The master's grandson"

She laid her right hand on her hip, tilted her body weight, and tapped her mouth with her finger "I was gonna say the one who got kicked out of the guild, but well…"

Laxus' eye twitched as he crossed his arms over his chest. Makarov covered his face with his hand thinking this was going to go wrong in every possible way -I should have sent them all on mission before Shanna got here-

"Well Mr. Dreyar, if you could follow me"

They disappeared into the aisle as Makarov rallied the rest of the guild members. It would be a risk to send them out now, but he couldn't let them take anyone else. He rather the council to come at him than to watch them destroy everything he built.

"Listen carefully, they've taken Gray, and I'm afraid he won't be the last. You can't leave at the same time; Cana and Erza, you'll go now. Mira and Elfman, Lisanna is fine, we'll look after her, once she returns to get the next one, you'll leave"

"Absolutely not!" Mira refused right away, the thought of leaving her sister unprotected was something she couldn't consider. She had lost her once before, and it had been too close to happen again.

"You have to. You will all go and look for Natsu while we stall. If you don't go, we risk losing the most powerful mages to the council"

"But Master!"

Erza held her arm and pulled her into a hug "Lisanna will be fine Mira, Natsu may not be…"

Mira hugged her back and nodded while a few tiers slid through her cheeks; she was still not comfortable with leaving but she understood that this was important.

"What about me? I need to go find him too!"

Makarov shook his head "Lucy dear… out of all people I think that you are the one that can't leave"

"I can help, I'm strong too" she started crying again -way to prove your strength Lucy- she couldn't but to blame herself for everything that was happening.

"We know, but I have a feeling she will notice if you leave; it was your wedding after all"

Lucy bit her lip and tried to push her tears down. If she couldn't help finding him, then she would have to put on a big show and stall the best she could. It will come to gaining as much time as possible.

"Excuse me…I need some fresh air" She went outside and hid the best she could. She needed to call Gajeel and explain what was happening; after all, if they questioned her, and she failed she would also be held and wouldn't have another chance.

*Lacrima Rings*

Gajeel was startled by the sound, every time that damn thing rang his heart skipped a bit thinking Levy was gone - Damn piece of shit…- he mumbled to himself while clumsily getting the lacrima out of his pocket.

"I hope this is important…"

"Shut up and listen carefully. It started, and we are not doing well, they took Gray in custody thinking he had something to do with what happened"

"Well, he is probably better off"

"Why would you say that you jerk!?"

"If he had told the truth, he would probably be on his way to jail already, same as if he had lied. You are very naive you know?"

"Excuse me!?"

"I'll explain in a way even YOU can understand bunny girl" The spite in his voice slapped Lucy in the face even through the lacrima "we had a backup plan, if there was no other way we were going to kill your fiancé. I'm sure more people would have gotten hurt, so, it kind of worked out for the best"

Lucy was fuming from anger, she felt fire in the pit of her stomach; she took a deep breath and was about to snap at Gajeel when she felt someone behind her; she turned quickly to discover Master Makarov standing there. He held one hand up signaling the lacrima.

"Hand it over"

"Master I was just…"

"I know what you were doing, did you really think I wouldn't notice? Hand it over"

Lucy stared at her feet with a defeated look and handed the lacrima over. -I can't even do this right, can I - She felt like a complete failure, despite all of her attempts to fix everything, there was no undoing what had been done.

"Gajeel, where are you?"

"Far enough not to be questioned if that's your concern"

"I need to know which places you've been to; we are sending people to look for him too and we can't waste time we don't have"

"Fine… I've been to the villages outside Oak Town, and I'm heading to the Phoenix Mountains now"

"How did you cover so much in so little time?"

"Mhm… I have my ways, I… also took the train" just remembering the ride was enough to make him feel dizzy. He covered his mouth while trying to catch his breath.

Lucy felt bad, Gajeel was being a total dick to her, but he was really trying to find Natsu; he was trying so hard he even got on a train. She knew Gajeel had the same issue Natsu did with motion sickness and couldn't help but to feel bad for him.

"Gajeel we may not be able to communicate for some time. We'll try to stall but I need you back in 5 days"

"Come on! It'll take at least two days to get back!"

"Five days Gajeel. If you don't find him we'll need all the power we can to hold everything together"

* * *

Back in the interrogation room Shanna was trying her best to get into Laxus' skin; he was sitting, his legs crossed, and arms over his chest. He had the smuggest look she had ever seen. She couldn't decide if she was more annoyed or intrigued by the man sitting across from her.

"Shanna was it? What exactly are you trying to figure out? I highly doubt the council sent such a skillful inquisitor just to push our buttons" the fake tone in which he praised her was setting her nerves up. -Who does he think he is?-

"I thought I was asking the questions Mr. Dreyar. I'm here to discover the truth"

"Funny, doesn't seem to be the truth you are after"

"Well the truth is relative. I want to know who burned down the Tatsuma manor"

"Mhm it seems obvious it was a fire mage, doesn't it"

"Yes indeed. You wouldn't happen to have one of those, would you?" she had a smirk on her face; she knew the answer to that question, but she enjoyed the challenge of breaking someone and Laxus seemed like a tough nut to crack.

"We certainly do, but you already know that. Natsu Dragneel is our resident fire starter; he's quite a problematic dragon slayer" he smirked back at her and licked his upper lip.

"I haven't met him in person, but I've heard a lot about him from the council. Didn't see him here, do you know where he is?"

"I guess he is out on a mission, he is always on a mission"

"What type of mission?"

"Who knows, he is always here and there, he does twice as much because he spends most of it paying the damages he and his team cause"

Shanna knew Laxus was playing smart; his responses were ambiguous but solid. He wasn't going down easily and that stirred something inside, she needed to take him down no matter what.

"Which is his usual team?"

"Well the damage is usually his, but he takes blondie and his flying cat everywhere"

"Did you participate in the fight that erupted in the manor?"

"Of course I did, who do you take me for? I never run away from a good brawl"

"Who started the fight Mr. Dreyar?"

Laxus smiled and stared at her, he wasn't going to lie despite the fact he knew she wasn't after their truth. "Well if you ask me, I'd say our host did"

Shanna's smirk disappeared quickly and changed into a frown "Look, the man was kidnapped, his house burned down, do you really think I'm going to believe he did this himself?"

"Look at your runes woman, I ain't lying. You asked about the fight, I'm telling you this fight didn't start at the manor. If you play with fire… you're bound to get burned eventually; don't you think?"

"Those are serious accusations on an outstanding member of society Mr. Dreyar; do you have anything to back them up?"

"I don't need to back them up, it's the council's job to investigate and mine to answer your questions. I'm just telling you where to look for to make your job easier"

"Fine, I'll bite… When did this fight start?"

"I don't think any of us knows that, maybe you should spend less time questioning us and more time finding your guy, don't you think?"

"Oh I'll find my guy"

They continued with the questioning, Shanna was getting frustrated. She kept trying to trick him, but he outsmarted her with every single response. They were there for over an hour and Laxus was still far from giving her what she wanted. He started tapping his fingers on the table, annoyed by the waste of time.

"We can call it a day. I may have to call you later on"

"You can call me whenever you want" a final smirk and a wink is all he gave her.

She smiled at him and walked him out the door; once it closed, she had to stop herself from screaming, she slammed her fists on the table and closed her eyes trying to keep herself together.

* * *

Back at the cave Natsu was growing impatient, he knew he was against the clock, but he was running out of options. He'd been close to killing him a couple of times and had to restrain himself. He sat and rubbed his hands together trying to think of different things to try, he wasn't even sure if anything he had done actually worked but he was willing to try everything.

His face was full of dirt, and his clothes were a bit ripped; he was sleep deprived, hungry and he strongly believe he was going crazy. He wasn't stupid, he knew he had been talking to himself a lot and was aware he had lost control several times.

Natsu walked not in a beeline but zigzagging until he stood in front of Fukuro, he slapped him across the face to make sure he was awake; he seemed to be dozing off more often now.

"Man you look like shit! I'll say you look a few decades older than before, strongly recommend going back to your regular beauty routine"

"Did you know owls feed off salamanders too?" Fukuro tried to laugh but his body ached too much.

Natsu looked down; he couldn't avoid him from getting under his skin. In a moment of weakness, he slapped the other side of his face with such strength that a few teeth flew out of Fukuro's mouth.

He grabbed a thick piece of rope that had been left aside from when he tied Fukuro up, and softly slid it behind his head, and just as carefully, he gave it an extra turn around his neck. He grabbed both ends of the rope gently and pushed his foot up to Fukuro's chest getting the air out his lungs. Fukuro looked at him as he pushed his foot and pulled the ropes simultaneously.

Fukuro's body shook violently trying to remove himself from Natsu's grip, but it was useless. Both his hands and feet were tied and there was no way he was going to be able to remove Natsu's foot from his chest nor the rope from his neck which was leaving a trail of purple and red marks from the friction burns; and the ruptured blood vessels.

He was gasping for air while his eyes got filled with little red spider lines. For a second, he looked directly at Natsu's eyes asking for mercy when he noticed him smiling. Natsu looked up from his neck to his face; his smile was immediately erased as he removed his hands from the rope.

Of course Fukuro had fainted. Natsu looked at his shaky hands for a few seconds -was I actually enjoying this?- He couldn't trust himself anymore; he wished for this to be over soon, for it to be a dream. He closed his eyes hoping that when he opened them, he would be back home.

They both drifted away individually as memories filled their minds.

* * *

Fukuro's dream

I was sitting in the front garden when I saw her; she seemed to be around ten years old, just like me. She was wearing a baby blue dress with white gloves and a lace hem; her beautiful blond hair reflected the sun, she was perfect.

She walked towards me and sat on the grass smiling; a smile like you've never seen before.

"You are going to get your dress dirty…"

"I don't care. Do you want to play?"

I looked at the house wondering if we would get in trouble, she must have sensed my nervousness because she grabbed my hand and her smile got bigger.

"Don't worry about them; my parents are here discussing business, and knowing my father, this could take HOURS!"

I couldn't help but laugh at the way she rolled her eyes while making her statement; it must have bothered her because she stood up and put both hands on her hips giving me a terrifying stare.

"Hey! Are you making fun of me?"

"No! I swear I wasn't!

She softened her look and smiled again before offering her hand to help me stand up "So are we going to play or what?"

That had been the best day of my entire life. We played for hours; we ran and hid from each other, we stole ice cream from the kitchen, we even walked as far as the lake and took our shoes off to dip our feet in it. She was like a ray of light that I didn't know was missing from my life.

It was late, and her parents were leaving; she kissed my cheek and ran away waving goodbye. I walked to the house with a big smile, still rubbing my face where she had kissed me when I ran into my parents.

"Where were you?"

"I was playing outside with Lucy; we thought it would be ok since you were busy"

"That's fine dear. So, what do you think of her?"

"She is fun! We went to the lake, and…" my mother waved her hand disregarding my comments, she rolled her eyes at my excitement while grabbing her wine glass from the table.

"Well they'll be spending more time here soon; I hope you can keep her entertained"

"I will! Thank you, mother!"

"Don't thank me yet. Listen, one day when you understand your family legacy, we'll make an offer to her parents for her to become your wife"

"My w… but we just met"

"Wouldn't you like to have a pretty wife like her? Didn't you just say she was fun?"

"Of course I would mother"

She grabbed my wrist and squeezed it making me squeal a bit "Then you need to conquer all your fears, you hear? She is a fair price and many suitors will offer to marry her; if you want to keep her in your life, you will have to be the strongest and the bravest of them all. It would be hard to find any other girl with her… qualities"

She released her grip making me take a step back; I looked at her without understanding the weight of her words. I was happy despite of the bitter taste that this conversation had left; just thinking about keeping that ray of light in my life forever was enough for now. I rubbed my wrist to make the sensation go away and counted the days for us to meet again.

* * *

Natsu's dream

I dreamed of my conversation with Merryl, her words still haunted me even when I was asleep.

"What happens after that?"

"Well, you know how you just said you trust them with your life? There's no way back love, they are going to have to stop you"

"You are mental; I would never go against them"

"Neither will get a choice Natsu…" She would always use nicknames to annoy me, but the way she said my name this time made me pay attention. She sounded sad and honest. If there was a way for me to save them… to save her, I was willing to do it.

"I'm listening…"

"I told you my family has worked there since forever; you can't help but hear things you know? I shared more than his home; I shared his life, his bed, and his dreams!"

"What do I care if you are mad at your former lover?"

"Ugh stop being so hard headed and listen! I don't know this for a fact, so it's still a long shot. I think the only way to defeat him is by making him be afraid"

"Oh, that's no problem; I'll give him something to fear…"

She rolled her eyes at me in annoyance "Boys… His parents raised him for this, you know? He was so scared of them when we were little, they would do the most horrible things to make sure he would be prepared to face everything"

"Ok, so you are saying roughing him up won't work?"

"I don't think it will. Look, his parents died as soon as he was of age. I overheard one of their conversations; his father kept saying he wasn't ready to receive the mark, and he said they wouldn't be able to control him once he did. His wife accused him of being scared, and his pride got the best of him, so he agreed to go through with it"

I was even more confused than before, my head wasn't in the right place to make all the connections, but I signaled her to continue. I needed her to continue...

"They died at home, the doctors couldn't explain, but money fixes everything; they ruled it as a weird virus and made sure the bodies turned to ashes. I asked him what had happened, and he just smiled and said that their fears caught up with them"

"So, you think he scared them to death?"

"It's more than that; I saw their bodies before they were taken out of the manor. They died in their late forties but when I saw them, they looked over a hundred. They looked as if the life had drained out of them"

"Maybe he just killed them; you are jumping to conclusions and sending me to be your guinea pig"

"No, there was only one wound in them, and I'm positive that wouldn't have killed them"

"What type of wound?"

"A chunk of skin had been removed, not a big one maybe just about four inches. I think that was the place where they held their mark"

"So, I'll remove his mark and it will all be over. Simple enough, where is it?"

"Below his right shoulder, but I don't think it would be that simple. You can remove it and see what happens, but if it doesn't work…"

"If it doesn't work I'll have to go all the way… which I won't be able to do unless I take my friends out"

"Yeah, you are aware of what happens with wizards that go rogue, correct? You won't be able to go home. Natsu… you'll be an easy target for him unless you kill or hide your humanity… you don't know if you'll have the strength to pull yourself back"

"What do you suggest?"

"Practice makes perfect… I'm equally responsible for this, so, start with me"

He woke up realizing he had done this the wrong way; he couldn't make him fear him by just physically hurting him. Natsu realized that Fukuro had made him the most scared he had ever been in his life without even touching him and that's when it hit him; emotional pain was so much harder than physical pain.


	15. Chapter 15

Wow this one is long! hopefully you'll enjoy it. FYI for the next one we'll be on the same timeline but on the other end of the situation with a small stop on Fukuro's POV.

 **Linkskingsolomon** a little something in the story for you :P

* * *

"You grew up, became a man, had to adjust to taking less than you hoped for; you discovered the dream-machine had a big OUT OF ORDER sign on it."  
― **Stephen King,** **Dreamcatcher**

* * *

Makarov turned to face Lucy with a disappointing look; she looked down expecting to be yelled at, but when that didn't happen, she looked up again to meet the master's eyes.

"This is exactly what your problem is. You keep trying to fix everything yourself, and we don't work like that Lucy"

"I was just trying to…"

"You were trying to do what? Prove your strength, and your courage? We all know you! We've never doubted you, ever! But when you make this rash decisions to run off and take care of things by yourself you hurt your family"

Her eyes widen; she was mad at those remarks, but she didn't have a smart response. She felt a nod in the pit of her stomach again, her temperature increased; she balled her fists and straighten her arms.

"I can't have you fixing everything for me! I can't continue to be saved by him every single time. I'm a capable mage and I wanted to prove my place in this guild. You guys would never understand how it is to be pushed your entire life and then come to a place where everyone is so complete!"

Makarov couldn't help but to laugh, which seemed to annoy her even more as she puffed her cheeks as a child being mocked.

"Complete? Dear you have everything wrong… I raised a son who became the master of a dark guild, I raised a grandson who tried to take over before learning his place; you are surrounded by people that have been saved over and over by their friends, haven't you noticed? Sure… Natsu saves you often, but how many times has he been saved by me, you, or his friends?"

She wasn't clenching her fists anymore, her face relaxed as her mouth opened a bit in surprise. He was right; everyone had a story and she allowed herself to remember all those conversations. The Strauss brothers were shunned before, Gajeel and Juvia were part of a dark guild, Erza suffered too much in her early years, the Raijinshuu had committed treason while following Laxus; these were people that wouldn't have been accepted anywhere else, and they were a family now.

"I'm sorry Master… I didn't notice…"

"It's ok, just don't let yourself forget. We have little time Lucy, let's go back inside"

They walked to the front door; the remaining members were outside of the hospital and waved at them. Makarov was happy to see his grandson standing there too.

"Hey Gramps"

"I'm glad to see you here"

"Yeah, not as stupid as brain freeze. You had nothing to worry about" He gave his grandfather a confident smile as Makarov shook his head with a grin on his mouth. Lucy interrupted the moment by grabbing Laxus' arm and pulling him closer which made him trip a bit.

"Watch it!"

She got him close enough to whisper, which for some reason made him a bit uncomfortable "So, what happened?" at that point the rest of the guys were closing on them with ears twice their normal size to hear whatever they had to say.

"This is not the place. Why don't we go and have some food, and we can all talk there"

A symphony of stomach growls took over; they'd been so nervous that no one had remembered to eat. They walked a bit in silence until they found a good enough restaurant; Laxus was the first one in. He rested his elbow at the hostess station while they all observed her blushing face nodding nervously.

Lucy was very curious about the interaction; the girl was giggling nervously whenever he talked and touching his arm smoothly when she responded.

"What in Mavis name is he doing?"

She felt a shiver down her spine when Bickslow snuck up on her from behind getting close to her ear.

"He is probably convincing her to…"

"Shut up jerk!"

"To give us a nice table Lucy… Damn you do have a dirty mind after all" He finished his sentence by sticking his tongue out of his mouth.

"Well you guys are so perverted that half of the time I don't care to know" she giggled and notice Bickslow smiling too. Laxus came outside again and signaled them to follow him; they walked up to the second floor which was almost empty with the exception of the cute hostess standing there with some menus"

"Welcome! Please sit. Here are your menus; I'll send someone shortly to take your orders"

Lucy looked a bit puzzled "Why is there no people here?"

The girl smiled "We keep the second floor for events". She turned to Laxus with a flirty smirk "But your friend said you guys like to be loud and were too big to be seated downstairs" She left flipping her long brown hair and turned her face just enough to take a quick look at Laxus "I'll be back soon".

Lucy turned to Laxus covering her face with her hand "Were you seriously flirting with her? This is not the moment to…"

"Relax a bit woman; I got us some privacy to talk, didn't I?"

She sighed and waved her hand trying to disregard him while everyone started putting tables together; she grabbed a chair and sat next to him to continue their conversation. The hostess came back with empty beer jars and laid them on the table.

"The bar is over there; since you've already paid for the space you are free to use the beer tab behind the bar. Are you ready to order?"

They ordered almost everything in the menu and asked not to be bothered unless they called. Once the food came in, they started discussing the events of the day.

"Ok I'll tell you now; she is not interested on anything else aside from the kidnap and arson, and she is very determined"

Makarov cleared his throat; his cheeks were a bit red already from the beer "So how did you manage to leave?"

"That was simple gramps, I answered her questions"

"And?" Lucy couldn't believe that it was that simple, after all Gray had been taken after only 15 minutes of questioning

"And nothing. I could tell she was frustrated, I even think I heard her snap once I left the room. But I think she is suspicious about Natsu. She asked about the fire, and if we had a fire mage; she even asked who his usual team was. We need to stall"

They all nodded and started to make suggestions but none was that good. They knew they couldn't lie, and the truth although a better option was something they didn't have, at this point they had their side of the story but wouldn't know everything until they found Natsu.

Bickslow was sitting at the end of the table rubbing his chin quietly, he was thinking hard about options but the one that seemed best for him may not be what his friends wanted to hear.

"Bait…" This single word was repeated multiple times by his babies who were as usual floating around him. They all turned to him with a blank stare; thousand question marks were practically flowing above their heads.

"Mhm... she is after information, and we need to stall right?" They all nodded still not understanding where he was going "So we need to choose someone for questioning, but we need to make sure it's worth her time. If we give her something good, she'll have to report back to the council, which will take her longer. Even today when nothing extreme happened she only talked to Gray and Laxus"

"But… That would mean to throw someone into the fire" Lucy didn't like the idea of making someone bait in order to gain time for something she had caused. She put her hand on her chest feeling her heartbeat and trying to remember what the master had said, she had to trust her friends.

"It should be me" Bickslow gulped before continuing, he knew it had to happen if this was going to work "I'll go in and I'll do my best to avoid the questions at first while we stall"

Freed's eyes were about to pop out of his skull as he spat the beer all over his side of the table forgetting his usual manners "Bicks are you insane?! What happens when she puts you away?"

"Trust me a bit more, could you? It won't be as easy; I'll have to tell her part of the truth, she needs to think she has what she needs. I'm not saying it's going to work ok? But it's worth the shot"

Freed looked visible upset, not his usual level of annoyed but really upset "There's flaws in your plan genius. You'll have the information, and then what? If she puts you away then we won't know what you know"

"Come on… That's easy to fix. I'll take a lacrima and you guys won't be there but will be able to hear everything we say"

"Genius! And you think she is not going to notice you have a lacrima on you? You're foolish…"

Bickslow laughed and stuck his tongue out "That's when my babies come in. I don't need to have the lacrima on me"

Lucy was rubbing her temples, what Bickslow was offering was somewhat smart but there was something that didn't feel right. She decided to leave that thought aside and continue with the conversation.

"Fine, so how will we make sure she picks you?"

"Well Fairy tail mages have a tendency to be late… "

"We do?"

"Well, we do now at least" He smiled again looking around trying to feel the mood on the table. They weren't happy about it but they eventually nodded. Freed stayed silent looking down as his hands pressing on his knees.

* * *

Gajeel walked the rest of the day, he decided to rest in the last town before Phoenix Mountains. He had discarded the most populated places since it would be hard to keep a hostage there; he also decided to skip Crocus since the council was too close.

"Come on you couldn't have gone that far Salamander"

All he had so far were bad leads, a few mages that used fire, a couple of thieves with gasoline, and a fire breathing monster, but nothing on Natsu. He was having dinner and some drinks in a place at the village when a little girl approached him.

"Excuse me sir, are you a wizard?"

"Beat it kid, I'm busy"

"Sir I wanted to offer you a job, I don't have a lot of money but I have this!"

Gajeel turned with his unfriendly face, and was about to kick her out again. The girl wasn't wearing any shoes; she had an old beige dress on, it was all patched up; she was holding in her hand a few coins and a couple of candy pieces.

He rolled his eyes and put his hand on his face _-Damn you Fairy Tail...what did you do to me-_

"What's wrong shortcake?"

"Well I want you to fix the mountain"

"Right…"

"Yeah! I think it's haunted!"

"And why do you think that?"

"Well it puffs smoke!"

"That's called a volcano kid…"

"But it's not! I live in the rooftop of a house almost outside of town, and it has never in all my life done that!"

"Wow in all your life… how old are you?"

"I'll be 6 in a month!"

"Geez… look I… I'll look into it ok? I'll take this one for free"

The little girl smiled and hugged Gajeel's arm before running away. He was used to people running from his mad face, even avoiding him out of fear. It felt weird but not in a bad way; he smiled and continued with his meal.

He quickly disregarded the conversation with the kid and moved on. Gajeel decided since he now had less than two days before he had to run back, he would need a good rest before proceeding, the next couple of days would have to be a nonstop race.

* * *

Fukuro was unconscious again, that was a common state for him; he rather let it happen that experiencing pain over and over. He looked older than before; where his muscles used to be now skin hanged from his bones, there were more than a few gray hairs and wrinkles on his face; his big brown eyes looked smaller and a bit gray.

Natsu was sitting on a rock rubbing his temples, and watching him while mumbling to himself; his sanity seemed long gone. There were dark circles below his eyes, and despite of the fact he maintained his muscle tone, he looked a bit thinner. He hadn't eaten much since they got there and didn't allow himself to sleep more than a few minutes at a time. That's when he heard Fukuro talking in his sleep.

"Father I'm sorry… I didn't mean to. Please don't. Mother do something, not the trunk...don't lock me in"

Natsu's eyes suddenly lit in amazement, he removed his hands from his temples; this had certainly spiked his interest. He slowly got closer trying to hear as much as he could. There were only bits and pieces but he figured that if he heard enough, he could make something out of it.

"The storm...I'm sorry" He kept mumbling nonsense for a while but Natsu was determined to pay close attention "get me out….not the trunk" the corner of his mouth rose as he noticed tears running down Fukuro's face; this had to be what he was scared of. Fukuro woke up startled at his dream still mumbling and stared at Natsu.

"You look shittier every day Fukuro"

"You are not looking so good yourself"

Natsu grabbed Fukuro's hand and twisted one of his fingers until it broke.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you, what did you say?"

* * *

Gajeel was now deep within the mountains and wondering if he should continue; he had put all his effort in covering ground, he had asked questions in every single place he had been to, and chased every single lead, and he still had nothing. He sat on the ground facing the way back to the village to decide what to do.

Thanks to Gajeel's very developed senses, he was able to hear a very faint scream in the distance. He stood up in a rushed pace deciding to continue a bit further to figure out what it was. That's when he saw a "mountain puffing smoke", not from the top but from a hole. It seemed to be high in the mountain, but not at its peak which was a bit uncommon. _-Dammit kid...your haunted mountain does look suspicious-_

He figured that using his full strength it wouldn't take long for him to reach the entrance; anyways, if it was nothing he would still be in good time to go back and help the guild. He ran and pushed his way through the rocks without resting. He knew he had made the right choice as soon as he got a bit closer, that was a smell he knew well.

Gajeel was finally on the ledge at the side of the entrance, still catching his breath when he stopped. He needed to figure out if it was best to announce himself, or to enter just like that; usually he would have walked in without a second thought, but after seeing Natsu the last time, he wasn't sure that would be a good idea. He knew he had taken a second too long when a huge fire stream almost stroke his side.

A deep voice echoed from inside "You can't stop me Gajeel! Leave now!"

"You fucking idiot! I ain't stopping you!"

It became so silent that he could hear the wind going through the cave's entrance whistling, it stayed silent for a few minutes when Gajeel heard footsteps getting closer to him. Natsu had stayed in the darkness of the tunnel resting on the wall.

"Then why are you here?"

"I… I came here to make sure you held your word…"

Natsu laughed with a bit of bitterness "My word?"

"You said if you did this maybe they wouldn't leave, remember?"

"I remember. But… you can't stay. I'm not getting you involve too"

"You are not, I'm getting myself involved, and if you don't like it we can always fight for the last piece of meat"

Natsu sighed, he got himself up from the wall and went outside covering the light with his hand, he hadn't been outside in a few days and the sun was hurting his eyes. Gajeel stared at him with surprise.

"What the… you look…"

"Like shit? yeah, I've heard that a few times this week"

"No, well I mean yeah you look like shit, but your scales are gone, what happened?"

"Hm well I'm not sure, they were there before. I guess the training helped a little more than what I thought. They come back when I lose control but it happens less every time"

Gajeel nodded still not understanding completely, whatever Natsu was going through was obviously taking its toll on him but he looked like him again. He started walking inside the cave when Natsu grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"Are you sure? there's no going back Gajeel"

"Who do you think you are taking to punk? I've seen worse, dammit I've done worse"

Natsu grinned and walked with his hands in his pockets leading Gajeel to the back of the cave. Gajeel stood there absorbing the scene, he had certainly seen worse but never in a lifetime though he would see Natsu doing it. He saw an old man hanging from his hands, more than half of his body was burned, it was obvious he had more than a few broken bones and was so far gone he was drooling himself.

"Who the fuck is this guy? What did you do to the other idiot?"

Natsu stood and pointed at the "rag" hanging before them "Gajeel Redfox, meet Fukuro Tatsuma"

Fukuro tried to hold his head up, but wasn't able to. Gajeel stared at him in disbelief; he held his finger up about to question his friend, but Natsu wasn't there anymore; he turned back to notice he was already standing next to Fukuro and holding his jaw with one hand. _-How did he get there so fast?-_

"Don't be rude! Where are your manners? Noble blood my ass… you need to greet your guests!"

Gajeel's eye twitched as he noticed how bad this had been for his friend, he was obviously not in his right mind. The scales may had been gone but he was starting to think they had taken a bit of his mind when leaving.

He scratched his right cheek with his finger; this made no sense for him "Hey… can you… elaborate?"

Natsu looked back at him and realized what he was doing; he let go of Fukuro's wrinkled face and walked signaling Gajeel to follow him to the other end of the cave where they could talk a bit more privately.

"Ok, please explain to me how it's possible for him to be the same guy I saw a few days ago? That's an old man!"

"You catch up quickly... "

"Salamander… you know as well as I do I'm not a patient man"

"Fine. Merryl told me a few family secrets; apparently, the mark they have allows them to control your fears and amplify them. No mark, no power"

"Bullshit, you took his mark at the party and no one woke up"

"Correct, so I had to go all the way. You see, removing the mark would only stop him from affecting someone else, but it wouldn't undo what he did. The only way to maybe, and I really mean maybe because I don't know if it works, is scaring the shit out of him"

"And it has taken you this long to make him scared? Dammit Natsu…"

"It's not that easy, you saw him… with every time he experiences fear he loses the hold he has on people. Physically torturing him doesn't work, I learned that the hard way"

"But it does! Natsu… Juvia and Lisanna are awake"

"What? How about Lev?" Natsu's eyes widen in surprise.

"She's still out… we need to bring her back"

Natsu noticed the sadness on Gajeel's voice; just by looking at him, he knew he had made the right choice. He had doubted himself so much but if his doom was saving his friends, and their loved ones then it was all worth it.

"Ok you need to tell me exactly when they woke up"

Gajeel explained that Juvia woke up a few hours after he left when they were still outside of the manor; he continued to explain the day that Lisanna woke up in detail while they both tried to find patterns.

"Look, it's hard to tell from the days; I'm not even sure what day is today… I can't be sure, but I have an idea on how to finish this and I'm going to need your help… I'm sorry"

"Tell me what you need"

"Before I do, I need to explain something to you. Every time he reaches true fear he gets older, drained even; I think that matches the times where Juvia and Lisanna woke up. So this would mean that the final scare will most likely kill him, you understand that?"

"I don't give a shit; you can cut him in pieces for all I care"

Natsu went over his plan in detail; Gajeel was listening carefully and was still very surprised the hardheaded guy he knew had come up with something so cold and planned. He was still listening to details and specifications when one thing came to his mind.

"Natsu...what happens after this?"

"I'm… not sure. I can't go back, I'll be risking all of you guys. Sure, I'm more in control now, thanks to your help, but that doesn't mean this won't happen again"

Gajeel thought about telling him what was happening back home, but he was scared Natsu would chose against his initial plan in order to go back. He decided to keep it quiet for now and tell him after they had finished with Fukuro.

* * *

It was early in the morning when Shanna got to the hospital; she opened the door holding a hot beverage on her hand, and looking around the room in search for the mages. The room was mostly empty with the exception of one mage laying across a chair taking a nap.

"Hey! Where's the rest of your friends?"

"Mhm?...Morning to you too. They are late, they are always late"

She rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance "Your name?"

"Bickslow"

"Well then, I guess you are next"

They walked together through the aisle in silence. Once Shanna opened the door she signaled Bickslow to sit on the chair, but he had no intention of making it easy on her. He walked to the table and laid on it while resting his face on his hand.

"Mr...Bickslow, please sit on the chair"

"I'm more comfortable here" he stuck his tongue out and laughed as he often did causing Shanna to roll her eyes again. "Also I don't think you'll need your runes for what I'm gonna say"

That certainly had spiked her interest; she decided to play along for a bit and sat on the chair. She tried to act a bit more relaxed, so, she put her feet up on the table, very close to Bicklow's stomach, which made him smirk.

"What could you possibly know that my runes wouldn't be required?"

"See, I'm more of an "All men for themselves" type of person; so I'm willing to cut a deal with you"

"Oh so this is a negotiation. Sir what makes you think I would offer you anything for information I can get by questioning the rest? I'm sure your friend in containment will break soon without food or water"

"You are very pretty, and also very naive. They will die before throwing anyone on the fire; you'll need a bigger containment unit soon. So what did the Ice Cube do to get himself detained?" He turned and rested on his back putting his hands behind his head.

Shanna raised a brow and crossed her arms above her chest "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't care really, just wondering how stupid he is"

The statement made her laugh a bit, this certainly seemed like the kind of guy who would throw everything away. She was certain her job would be easier now and felt confident enough "He refused to be questioned"

"Wow, so to answer my question, he was pretty stupid"

"Yeah; and why is it that you are so willing to betray your guild?"

"I don't like weak people, and my loyalty has been given away to someone else"

"Fine, I'm all ears"

Bickslow burst into laughter grabbing his stomach "You are being naive again! You really think I'm going to tell you everything you need to know to close this case without seeing something in paper? You are crazy…"

Shanna's face was pale and serious now; she got her feet off the table and slammed her hand on it. "This is not a joke! Time is of the essence. Can't you understand that a man's life is at stake here?"

He stared at the ceiling above him and grinned, "I do, and I think you should move quickly on those papers then. Do you think that a man who's willing to sell his so called friends will be moved by one single life?"

She stared trying to read him without much luck. She blinked a couple of times in disbelief thinking this was too good to be truth but also knowing she couldn't have gotten a better opportunity. She pulled out a notebook and a pencil.

"What's it going to take?"

He started by listing an incredible amount of requests which he knew wouldn't happen. A ridiculous amount of jewels, relocation not only for him, but also for the Raijinshuu, he went as far as to ask for a house and a new car. Of course, he was just trying to make the discussion longer to gain as much time as possible.

Shanna was sitting there writing everything down with a sweat drop on her forehead and a twitch on her eye _-are you fucking kidding me…-._ There was no way the council was going to agree to all of it; she didn't know if they would agree to any of it.

Finally, they had finish the long parchment of requests; Bickslow looked pleased with himself, which annoyed Shanna even more than before. "Ok so now you'll talk" Bickslow looked at her and started laughing again harder than before "Woman you are crazy! On paper didn't mean for you to write it down with a cute handwriting, I want an OFFICIAL paper. I'm very aware these are not things someone like _you_ can promise; go call your boss" he shooed her with his hand causing smoke to come out of her ears.

"Oh my! Look at the time… I'll be going to lunch now. I'll be back soon and you can tell me how it went"

Shanna's eye twitch now looked permanent; she slammed the door open and walked away knowing she had the losing hand on this interrogation. On the opposite side, Bickslow was mentally patting himself on the back for a job well done. He walked to the same restaurant where they have met the previous night and went upstairs where everyone was expecting him already.

Laxus was still laughing at how angry the inquisitor was when he saw his friend entering the room. He stood up and clapped slowly. Bickslow laughed and return the gesture with an exaggerated bow before sitting down.

Freed was still unhappy about the way things happened but it seemed to have worked out pretty well. "So what now Bicks?"

"Well I already cost her half a day; I'm guessing she'll have to talk to the council and they'll make her reduce the list to something they are willing to give, then we can go from there. Now Freed she said Gray had been taken when he refused questioning, what do you make from that?"

"Well' I haven't seen the runes yet but I'm guessing they have a trick mechanism to contain people who refuse to cooperate"

Everyone nodded; it now made sense for Gray to be taken out without much fight.

* * *

"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One that we all must take."  
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

* * *

Gajeel had finished his part of the work, a metal chest with enough dimensions to fit someone in but not enough to provide much space. He had first pictured it as a coffin, but once Natsu said that he wanted as little space to move as possible, he had to change the original idea to something more compact.

"So what now?" Gajeel was very aware of what needed to happen, but even for him it sounded a bit harsh. He was half-convinced Natsu would change his mind at the last minute and make him take care of the rest.

"Well... I guess there's no time to waste, right?"

"Mhm yeah I guess"

They walked towards Fukuro and stood in front of him for a couple of minutes thinking on the "right way" to do it. After what seemed forever, Natsu decided to continue and grabbed him from under his arms while Gajeel cut the rope. Fukuro gasped in pain and as a reflex, he put his arms around Natsu's neck.

"What are you doing?"

"It's the end of the line old man"

Fukuro looked a bit confused, but Natsu tried not to pay attention to that. When Fukuro's eyes noticed the metal box, all the strength that Natsu thought was long gone from the old man's body made its way to the surface. Fukuro screamed, pushed and kicked, even trying to throw himself to the ground like a child during a tantrum. He could barely move his arms and legs due to his injuries, but he moved so much that his hand reached Natsu's face scratching one side of it pretty badly.

Natsu hissed from the scratch; he was much stronger than Fukuro, and could definitely overpower him, but he was moving so much it was hard to carry him. The thought of knocking him out ran through his head but if he did, then all their efforts would be in vain, and they'll have to wait again for him to regain conscience.

He fought so hard that Natsu accidentally dropped him on the floor; he tried crawling without much luck. Natsu was losing his patience again; he started rubbing his temples and mumbling to himself when Gajeel grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey… We are almost done" he turned Natsu around to face him; he still looked like himself which made Gajeel release his breath in relieve.

Natsu composed himself and turned back to the ground where the old man continued in his pathetic attempt to escape. Fukuro turned around and looked at Natsu with confusion again; with no more than a few words, and without knowing; he created the worse fear and regret Natsu would ever experience.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

He felt his stomach sank to his feet. He hated the man before him; and he knew he deserved every single thing that happened to him, but seeing him so helpless and confused broke something deep within. No matter how much he tried to hide his humanity, he could never be the monster he pretended to be while in the cave.

Gajeel just stood there quietly; the hate he felt for the man was too strong, but there was a small sense of guilt in the pit of his stomach he couldn't shake. _-so, the devil grew old and confused, that doesn't get rid of the horns… does it?-_ He was wrapped in his thoughts when he saw Natsu pull Fukuro from the floor and carry him on his shoulders to continue.

The old man kept screaming all the way trying to fight his way out. Natsu stood before the metal box; he took a deep breath and he threw him inside. The box was indeed small; the space was barely enough for Fukuro to fit almost in fetal position.

"Gajeel… the lid"

"Natsu, are you…"

Natsu's voice came out again as a deep growl with a demanding, and rushed tone "Give me the damn lid Gajeel!"

Gajeel knew he was right; they couldn't stop now. He took the lid and tried to cover the box but Natsu stopped him "Just give it to me and get out...now"

"Are you fucking crazy? I ain't leaving yet"

The look Natsu gave him was empty and cold again. He pulled the lid out of Gajeel's hands and without much effort and gave one final look at the man in the box. Fukuro's eyes seemed back to normal, they weren't gray anymore; that was the look of the man Natsu despised more than anything, which coincidentally made things easier for him.

"You can't win Salamander" Fukuro was back to his own self, trying to tempt his destiny one last time.

"I know… but I won't lose either" Natsu gave him a crooked smile before he started pushing the lid to close the box. That's Fukuro realized this was actually going to happen.

He had the strange idea that no matter how bad things went, in the end, Natsu wouldn't be capable of murder. Little did he know that when you take away everything a man loves, there's no limit to what he could do in retaliation.

Fukuro's screams were muffled by his metal confinement; he started pushing with all he had left which cause the lid to move a bit. Natsu stood on it, and lit both his hands on fire; he laid them on the sides and presses sealing it permanently.

He was kneeling on top of the box still with his hands above the sides, he felt the vibration every time Fukuro pushed against it, and he heard the screams of agony and desperation. Gajeel was speechless; he stretched his hand to grab Natsu's shoulder but stopped a few inches before when he notice the small teardrops falling on the metal lid.

Natsu cleaned his face with the back of his hands and walked to a small pile of rocks. He sat down and rested his back on the wall when he grabbed the first rock.

"What are you doing?"

"We can't make thunderstorm happen, so, this will have to do…" He took the first rock and threw it against the box; the sound created an echo all around the cave followed by a painful scream that came from within the box.

Gajeel sat down next to Natsu. He took the second rock out of his hand before repeating "This will have to do" he threw the second rock to the box with a bit more strength causing a dent.

"You don't have to do this"

"Can't let you do all the work can I?"

The screams continued for a couple of hours. He would sometimes scream directly at Natsu, promising he would lose even more; sometimes he would yell at an unknown monster asking what he'd done to deserve it. Every time the "confusion" came back and his screams sounded like the ones of an innocent man, Natsu trembled. He felt his heart breaking a bit more with every thud.

They concluded that there were two possible answers; either Fukuro's mind was playing games with him due to the speed aging he experienced, which would explain why he sometimes yelled in anger and some in fear; or he was trying to appeal to their guilt in order to get out of an impossible situation. Both decided to believe it was the second option despite the fact they would never know for sure.

After a long time the screaming stopped, they had gotten so used to the noise that they felt something was missing; the only thing left was an annoying ringing in their ears.

They were sitting next to each other quietly. Gajeel felt grateful, he never thought Natsu would do this for them, for him. He wanted to say something but every minute that passed made it even more complicated and awkward.

Gajeel's lacrima rang startling both of them; he took it out of his pocket so fast that he almost dropped it on the floor, that's when her voice broke the silence completely.

"Gajeel! Levy is up!"

"Is she ok? What happened?"

"I don't know; she woke up about 15 minutes ago. She is asking for you. Gajeel... did you find him?"

Gajeel wanted to tell Lucy the truth; he wanted more than anything to tell her that he would take him home. After what Natsu had done for him, he felt he owed him greatly, and he wasn't sure he would ever be able to repay him. He looked up wondering if this was the same man that had fought with him so many times, if it was possible for him to go back to his previous life as if nothing had happened; he knew better than many that coming out of this was never easy.

Natsu didn't look at him, he didn't say a word but he shook his head asking him not to respond to that question.

"Gajeel… did you?"

"No bunny girl, I'm sorry… I need to go back now but I'll keep looking for leads on the way"

Lucy remained quiet on the other end of the line; he could hear her sobbing a bit which broke his heart a bit more. Natsu stood up and walked outside of the cave to get away from what felt as the saddest sound he could imagine.

"I'm ok Gajeel just… come home to Levy"

He walked out of the cave and found Natsu looking at the sunset, _-when did the dumb kid changed so much?-_

"Man you need to talk to her"

"I can't face them, not yet"

"Natsu I haven't been completely honest…you really do need to go back"

"Why? I'm gonna cause nothing but more trouble"

"Actually… you not going back may cause something worse" Gajeel sighed; he knew he'd have to face his decision to keep the truth from him eventually, but he never thought he would feel so in debt with him when it happened. "We tried to keep the council away, we took them to the hospital but as soon as they figure out it was magic related they notified them"

"And you tell me this now? Man you had a full day to tell me this!"

"I know… that's not all… They are holding Gray as a suspect; I don't know if they have someone else, but I do know that they won't rest until they find something"

Natsu's plans collapsed before his eyes, despite everything he'd done to avoid problems for his friends everything would still fall on them.

"It's ok, let's get some rest and we'll leave first thing in the morning ok?" his signature grin made an appearance, but Gajeel knew it was different than before; his eyes weren't smiling at all.

He nodded and followed Natsu back in the cave. Little did he know his friend had no intention to wait until the morning nor going back home with him.


	16. Chapter 16

**HI! so I'm not updating as often as before because I'm making the chapters longer. I hope you enjoy this one. Next Chapter will start with how Juvia and Gray got together so if you are not into that ship I'll add a note at the beginning and end so you can skip it. I just tough it would be nice to give some background on how that happened.**

* * *

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."

 **– Muhammad Ali**

* * *

Bickslow had decided to take a long lunch with his friends to let Shanna stew a bit more. They tried to keep the regular conversation, despite the situation, since there was not much else to plan. They all knew it came down to gaining time.

After a couple of hours he walked back slowly taking his time; once inside the hospital he saw Shanna pacing on the aisle making an annoying clacking sound with her knee length purple boots. She turned to face him with her fisted hands on her hips.

"Where the hell were you?!"

"Woman, I went to lunch!"

"OVER TWO HOURS AGO!" He raised his hands in an apologetic sign "Well I didn't know you were timing me, I could have taken longer you know…"

Shanna stumped her foot forward on the white, shinny hospital floor, showing she wasn't as "grown up" as she pretended to be. "Whatever! Let's go back; we have a lot to discuss". She kept stomping her way through the aisle elbowing nurses and doctors aside without apologizing; Bickslow sighed, and reluctantly followed her lead -Well she is a foul mood now…-

Shanna let herself fall on the chair and crossed her arms pouting like a child. He rested his back on the doorframe, and crossed his arms above his chest imitating her "So what's the verdict Madam Inquisitor?"

Shanna took a few deep breaths to compose herself which took all of her will force "Mr. Bickslow, the council has studied your requests and have come to a conclusion. As you are aware some of these are a bit… extreme"

Bickslow was trying as hard as he could to hide his smile; this was going exactly as he had planned. He could imagine Laxus laughing even harder than before almost rolling on the floor. "Oh, so, did they decline?"

"Not really" Shanna had a proud smile plastered on her face "You see, they actually agreed, but there will be a few rules. You'll be granted half of the jewels you requested now, along with some items of your list; the rest will be given once the information you provide pays off"

His smug look melted right off his face in seconds, and it took everything he had to not show his growing concern; not that it would matter since his helmet covered it well. He couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth; this was not what he had planned, and he now realized this one guy was more important than they had anticipated. "Well that is great news"

"Sure is. Here's your official paper Mr. Bickslow, signed and sealed by the council"

Bickslow held the paper on his hands, and did his best to avoid shaking in disbelief "Perfect, I... I'd like my leader to review it, if that's ok with you. He is aware of what I'm doing since I've requested for them to relocate with me"

"You'll get thirty minutes to get him here. This offer expires you know? Use your time wisely"

He smiled and left the room moving with all the fake confidence he could gather, although inside he knew this was only the beginning of his punishment. Once outside he called Freed who had been listening to the conversation thanks to Bickslow's babies.

"Freed, what do we do now?"

"We are on our way; I need to see how binding that paper is. Don't go anywhere Bicks"

Not even ten minutes had passed when he saw the rest of the Raijinshuu running his way through the rock road that led to the hospital. He opened his mouth to speak when Freed ripped the parchment out of his hand; Evergreen was panting, resting her face on the wall, and Laxus tried to pretend he wasn't tired at all.

Freed carefully read word-by-word mumbling to himself. The rest of his friends staring at him eagerly waiting to hear a word, any word. "This is bad Bicks… there are clauses in this contract"

Laxus and Evergreen stay quiet listening carefully to try to come up with a strategy. If it came to it, they were fully capable of overpowering the council's inquisitor, but they were aware that would mean something worse than being expelled from the guild.

"How bad?"

"This specifies that you need to sit inside the runes and tell everything in detail; if you refuse to do so you will be held indefinitely for treason; we all will"

"What? They can't do that!"

"They can and they will. It also says that after you finish you'll receive half the jewels you requested along with the first items of the list, and you will be immediately relocated by yourself; once the information you give proves to be helpful, the rest of us will follow"

"This is not what's supposed to happen" He grabbed his head with both his hands and bit his lip.

Evergreen held his arm softly "It'll be ok, you gained as much time as possible. You go in there and tell them everything you need to say"

"I can't do that…"

Laxus grabbed his arm to turn him around "You can, everyone will understand Bicks; we've done worse and they forgave us then..." He smiled at him in a friendly way and patted his back "No matter what we say or what we don't say, they'll find out about what happened; this way we can at least control how and what, don't you think?"

Bickslow nodded; he really didn't want to sell Natsu out, but he knew his friends were right. He had gained time, and now he could only wish his guild mate was able to come back soon to fill in the remaining gaps.

"Guys… Is this the right thing to do?"

Laxus looked at him and patted his back again "You do whatever you need to do, we'll be by your side Bicks"

He was soon to regret those last words.

He walked back in, squeezing the parchment in his hand; the aisle looked longer than before, and every step he took made it look longer; his breathing was heavy, which make him a bit dizzy.

The gray door in front of him looked bigger than before too, as if it belonged to a torture chamber or maybe it was the fact that after his big mistake he felt smaller now in comparison. -Come on… just get it over with - . He slammed the door open startling Shanna, who immediately got her feet off the table and stared at him. He sat down on the chair where he knew the runes would react to his every word.

"It seems we have a deal"

"Good, I thought you'll be half way out of the city by now. Did you really think I was going to make it easy?"

"You know, for a little while there… I did" He crossed his arms again, and smiled at the purple haired girl sitting in front of him.

"Don't waste more of my time Mr. Bickslow. What caused the fight inside the Tatsuma Manor?"

"The wedding. Lucy was going to marry him to avoid people from getting hurt"

"Please elaborate"

"I don't have all the details...What I know is that he had this magic that could control your biggest fear and make it happen; it was an ancient, and dark magic. He threatened her to use it against someone she cared for, if she didn't marry him"

"Against who?"

"...Natsu Dragneel"

"I see… was he the one who started the fight?"

If Shanna could see behind Bickslow's helmet, she would have noticed the fire in his gaze as his eyes widened in surprise "He didn't start the fight. Fukuro Tatsuma started it when he took a member of our family by force" His hands gripped his knees with bruising strength as he tried to contain himself.

"That's so cute… in less than a day you went from calling them weak and selling them out, to referring to them as family" Her smirk was crooked again, she raised her index and touched her cheek "However, that's not what I'm asking… Did Natsu Dragneel start the fight that led to the kidnap of your host, and destruction of his Manor?"

"It doesn't make a difference"

"Meaning?"

Bickslow knew there was no way around it now; it was too late. "It would have happened anyway. We all went to the wedding to find a way to get her out of there; if we couldn't find something then we planned to take him down… by any means necessary"

"Who was in this plan?"

"I'm not entirely sure; there were lots of groups of people and some may have had the same plan"

"I'm assuming your team was part of your plan at least"

"Leave them out of this Shanna… I'm here and I'm answering your questions"

"Fine, you said it would have happened anyways, but that means it didn't. I'm going to ask again; did Natsu Dragneel burn the house down overpowering your guild mates and kidnapping Fukuro Tatsuma?"

Something felt wrong; he had given her sensitive information about a dark magic, and a plan to kill him even if he didn't use those words. He had hoped for a different reaction, and was surprised that she kept pushing for the same information; he took a second too long analyzing when Shanna added a comment she soon wished she had kept to herself.

"According to the council, Mr. Dragneel has always been dangerous... if this was his doing probably the strength of his attack took the three mages from your guild out; it's no secret darkness is deeply rooted in him""

"Wait...I didn't say he did it, why would you think he cursed his friends with dark magic? I just said Fukuro Tatsuma had the dark magic, not Natsu… why don't you ask about the hell he put everyone through? It's almost as if…" It hit him like a bucket of cold water; this plan would have never worked because the council had already picked a story, a victim and a villain. Gaining time wouldn't make a difference.

Shanna's grin grew bigger; she relaxed on the chair, and crossed her arms above her chest. "As if?..."

"As if you were trying to blame it on him"

She tilted her head and pressed a finger to her own lips "Mr. Bickslow, what a horrible thing to say! Do you think the council would condone any illegal action against the guilds?" She let her back rest on the chair, and held her finger up "but since you have no evidence of this…"

Bickslow didn't move, he didn't say a word. The anger rising inside him was too much to react. He held his fists so tight that his knuckles looked white from the pressure. He suddenly started laughing uncontrollably, and shook his head. He stuck his tongue, and kept laughing for a few more seconds; he then stopped, and took a deep breath before showing a huge grin, and grabbing his helmet with both hands; he was about to pull it off when the door was slammed open by Lucy barely catching her breath.

"Levy! She is awake!"

Shanna was shaking, her eyes widened in surprise; she was mostly scared of what could have happened, and partially angry for freezing and doing nothing. She tried to act normal; she wasn't ready to face Bickslow again, and was not willing to admit how powerless she was against Fairy tail IF they decided she'd gone too far.

She cleared her throat trying to redirect the situation "Ms. Heartfilia, could you please show me to Ms. McGarden's room? I have a few questions for her. Mr. Bickslow this is not over…" Shanna followed Lucy through the door; she took a second to look back at Bickslow who just smiled and waved at her in a childish manner; Shanna hissed before leaving the room clearly frustrated.

He sat there and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Bickslow knew he had let his anger get the best of him; using his powers against the council's inquisitors would have made things worse but he wasn't planning on letting her win.

He stood from his chair and looked at the white ceiling panels -fuck… this is not going to get better is it? - There was nothing more to do; he walked outside to where he had seen his friends last.

They were still there, but now with astonished faces, and holding the lacrima in their shaky hands.

Evergreen walked right to him stumping her high heel shoes on the floor before slapping him across the face right below the helmet. Years of practice had taught her that slapping Bickslow without the proper calculation would lead only to her perfect manicured hand becoming red and bloated "Please tell me you are not that stupid!"

He rubbed his face before gulping "I… didn't do anything"

Freed shook his head in disappointment; Bickslow turned away from his stare "Bicks, we know you like the back of our hand… You were planning on removing your helmet"

"That's not...I wasn't…" Laxus was beyond mad; he walked straight to him and grabbed him by the shirt "Stop it… you were planning on using your Seith Magic, or your figure eyes or both! You can lie all you want to the others but we know you"

"I'm… sorry" Evergreen grabbed Laxus' hand softly pulling him away; her brow and mouth twitching from a mix of anger and pain "Why would you do something so stupid?"

Despite the fact it was Evergreen who had asked, he directed his answer to his team's leader. Bickslow opened and closed his mouth a few times without finding the right words; he spoke softly as if he didn't want to be heard "She… I know he did all he could to save her too. They are pinning all on him, and I couldn't..."

Laxus rolled his eyes and turned his back in anger while Evergreen was stuck blinking with a clueless face. Freed on the other hand didn't seem surprised by the statement and just covered his face with one hand while he sighed.

"You are betting your life for someone who you lack the courage to face! Not only yours but all of ours! You can't make these decisions on your own, you hear?

"I know…"

"We need to figure out what to do know; do you think Shanna noticed?"

"I know she did, she looked pretty shaken by it"

Freed sighed again "Well I guess we'll have to improvise"

Lucy and Shanna walked through the endless aisle until they reached Levy's door; they entered the room to find the young bluenette getting off her bed.

"Lev! You need to get some rest, please lay down"

"Lu I really need to go" her eyes were watering as she pleaded silently to her friend. Lucy grabbed her hand and directed her back to the bed. She looked at her and raised her brow trying to pass a silent message "It'll all be ok Lev… I'm sure he'll be back soon"

Levy nodded before noticing the additional presence in the room. "Can we help you with something?"

"Ms. McGarden, I'm Shanna the…"

Levy's eyes changed from pleading to anger when she interrupted Shanna "I know who you are. I assumed the council would send someone with more experience to question the guild, since we came into contact with a very dark type of magic" Levy was generally too polite and patient for everyone's standards, but the amount of venom rolling from her tongue left no question about how displeased she was with her visit.

Shanna put her balled firsts on her hips and narrowed her eyes "I have plenty of experience dealing with crimes against non-mages"

"Well then we have no use for you here, do we? This was a crime from a dangerous mage to a complete guild. We need someone fully equipped to deal with this"

Shanna felt fire in the pit of her stomach; the little fairy was disregarding her authority. She straightened her back and responded with an overly confident tone "I'm working under the authority of the council Ms. McGarden, and until they decide that I'm finished, I will continue doing my job here"

"Oh I'm sorry!...Exactly who decided to send you? You know what, never mind; I will call the council tomorrow. After all, they'll probably take the opportunity to send more ancient parchments to translate as they usually do with their special council rates" Levy's tone was cocky; she had a long-standing work relationship with the council and knew almost everyone. Not only that, but she was aware there were many "bad apples" there who could be to blame for Shanna's presence.

Shanna bit her lip so strong that a coppery taste filled her tongue; she tightened her fists before turning to the door in annoyance. Lucy's eyes were wide open and her jaw was about to hit the floor still shocked by her best friend's toughness during that conversation.

"Daaamn, Go Levy!"

'Lu, she is bad news"

"How bad?"

"Remember that time the boys hid your keys to scare you, and then they lost them for real, and had to come clean to you? Remember what Erza and you did?"

"Holly shit… yeah I remember"

"Well… that was a walk in the park"

* * *

Gajeel laid on the cold stone floor from the humid cave with his back to Natsu; he was really trying to sleep, but every time he started to drift away, Natsu would start turning on the floor or pacing around the cave before going outside to get some air.

"Could you stop fucking moving?"

"Can't help it… Just go to sleep Gajeel"

"I would LOVE to…"

"I'll try to be quiet ok? I'm ...anxious"

Gajeel looked at Natsu and was about to shout a snarky response, but he decided against it. He understood what had just happened wasn't something easy for him, but he couldn't imagine how bad it was for Natsu.

"Fine...Just keep it quiet ok?"

After several attempts, he got used to the pacing sound and fell into a deep sleep.

Natsu's POV

I paced around the dark corners of the cave several times; I turned in my spot repeatedly. I knew what I had to do now. Knowing Gajeel would notice me leaving I had to be extra careful.

It started simply enough, he was more than used to me being noisy, and complained about it quite often, so, I did exactly that. He needed to tune me out if I was ever going to leave this cave alone.

He eventually got pissed at me, as I knew he would, but didn't snap; he felt sorry for me, he pitied me. I wish I'd never seen that understanding look on his face, it just reminded me on how much things had changed.

He finally fell asleep a few hours after dark, but I had to make sure; I kicked a rock and it bounced a few times before hitting the wall echoing around the cave. Gajeel shifted his position and made a growling sound, but he didn't wake up.

I took everything out of his backpack until I found the lacrima, a notebook, a pencil and some other stuff that reeked of Levy, which didn't surprise me. I felt a mix of happiness, and jealousy; while most would probably thing Levy was too nice or too good for him, I knew better. It pained me to admit he was one of my closest friends now, and knew exactly how I felt. He had become a better person, and was willing to risk his life for the guild; on the other hand I was extremely jealous; he would get to live the life I had thrown away out of immaturity and -oh surprise- jealousy despite being as immature and probably more jealous than me.

I took a page from the notebook, but I didn't know how to start. This was going to be the hardest note I've ever written…She was the one who was good with words after all. I smiled a bit when I remember how much she used to tease me for my horrible handwriting -Focus! Not the time for flashbacks!- I had to shake my head a couple of times to bring me back to reality.

I took my scarf off my neck, and stroked it gently; it was still my most precious possession, and it reminded me of my father so much -if you were here you wouldn't have let me make such a mess… but you are not… I couldn't save you, but I'll save them - I placed it with the rest of my things, neatly folded under the piece of paper where I had poured my heart out; I wasn't taking any regrets with me this time.

The box was not extremely heavy for me, but I was so drained that it felt like it held the weight of the world in it...Now that I think about it, maybe it did. If it wasn't for the minor adjustments Gajeel had made earlier I wouldn't have been able to carry it with me. I hadn't even considered it until he asked what we were gonna do with it.

Flashback

" So... we have an old dead man... in a trunk... "

" Hmh… so?"

He blinked a couple of times in surprise "Man really? I was actually beginning to think you had become smarter...What are we doing with the box? We can't take it back with us"

" Why not?" I noticed it was a stupid question just as it left my lips. He looked at me with his usual lack of patience before shaking his hands in frustration "For Fucks sake! No body, no crime you idiot!"

" Fine so we'll bury the box somewhere in the mountains"

" We can't do it here. You've been here for days; you're bound to leave something that will lead them to you"

" Fine! So we'll walk a bit further, bury the fucking box and then go back? Good enough for you metal head? We are still in good time, right?"

Gajeel huffed in annoyance but didn't fight further "I guess so… I'll add some moving parts to this so we can drag it, but we'll have to make sure we get rid of the tracks. Salamander...No one knows you are here right?"

" ...No" I lied the best I could. There was one person who knew where I would go if removing Fukuro's mark didn't work.

End of Flashback

I grabbed the box and started carefully moving it to the entrance. If I made it out of the cave without waking him up, then it would all be ok. I turned back to Gajeel one last time knowing him and Levy would be fine; telling myself I was right for doing what I did, and that I did it for them for all of them. I was lying to myself… my reasons were far from selfless; I just wished I could have seen Lucy one last time before it all came to an end.

Finally at the foot on the mountain I allowed myself to gaze at the night sky wondering if she was looking at it too; the cool weather would allow me to walk at a good pace until I got to my destination probably early in the morning; the exact point between Phoenix mountains and Crocus…

* * *

*After the Levy and Shanna's conversation*

Shanna left the room still furious at the fairy's responses; her knee length boots clacking furiously against the floor as people stared at her. She was puffing her cheeks, which were red from anger with her stiff arms and balled fists going back and forward. She saw Makarov at the end of the aisle talking to one of the nurses; she pushed the nurse out of the way causing her to tumble down.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

"Me? What type of Master is incapable of handling a few rough kids!?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your guild is a mess, it shouldn't exist, and you shouldn't be allowed to be a Master!"

"Watch your words Shanna. There are things once said that can't be taken back" The aura emanating from the old man sent a shiver down her spine. She always though Makarov was on a pedestal because of past glories, but once she sensed his battle energy she took a step back.

She cleared her throat trying to compose herself again feeling the imminent danger after snapping at the elderly man facing her "Ms. McGarden refused to talk to me, one of your mages is in detention for conspiracy, and one tried to make a fake deal before trying to get rid of me!"

"Is that so? Well… I'll be glad to talk to them if that's your concern, but I can assure you I fully trust my children's judgment" Makarov sharpen his stare, and tilted his head "Did you do something to upset them?"

"What?!" She couldn't believe his nerve; she was panting, her face was now a perfect match for Erza's hair "I came here to do my job! I get attacked, and you question ME?"

"Oh dear… I see many things, but a victim is not one of them..." Makarov smirked at her before turning around and leaving her cold and shocked. She heard him repeat the same words she had spoken to him, and a mix of anger and guilt invaded her chest. -This is my job…-

Makarov walked calmly outside of the building and saw his grandson quietly arguing with his friends in the far left corner; he shook his head as he got closer to them to the point his presence couldn't go unnoticed.

"Hey... Gramps…"

"Mhm... Who was it?"

"Who was what?..."

Makarov closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he held his hands on his back before turning to Bickslow without saying a word. Bickslow rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the floor as the Master approached him.

"Master… I…"

"No, you're not sorry. You did what thought was best and I can only imagine what she did to push your buttons; I just wish you kids would understand that we are stronger together than apart"

"Gramps he was just…"

"No excuses Laxus. We do what we do for the people we love, for our family. Now I don't know what you did to piss her off Bickslow, but her conversation with Levy or myself didn't go any better. Get everyone together and we'll meet back at the restaurant in less than an hour. Is that clear?"

The four fairy tail members straighten their backs sensing this was the wrong time to inquire, and spoke in unison "Yes, Sir". After the Master was gone, they stayed behind for a few minutes in disbelief, two of them had challenged the council to come at them and he was still on their side.

Makarov got permission to get the three girls out of the hospital; he didn't consider that a safe place for them anymore, and as far as he knew, there was no reason for them to stay anyways.

Levy was still tired so she depended mostly on Jet and Droy to move around; Juvia had been clinging to Lucy since Gray was nowhere to be found, no one had told her anything yet; Lisanna of course was in company of her brother and sister, who had just returned to town along with Erza after a quick search in the surrounding area; they both insisted on being so close to her that she was considering going back to the hospital just to get some space.

Once the group of nine (Makarov, Shadow Gear, The Strauss brothers, Lucy, and Juvia) got closer to the restaurant they noticed everyone was still outside waiting for Laxus to secure what had become their regular spot during the last days.

Mira released her sister's arm and walked right through the crowd getting herself behind Laxus who was still talking to the cute brunette, and negotiating the cost of the location. She had braided her hair on the side; her black mini skirt was way above half her thighs, and her white button shirt had an unnecessary extra open button. He was resting his elbow on the hostess station when he grabbed her hand and got it closer to his lips before whispering "Oh come on...I'm sure if you and I go the upstairs is still going to be empty; there's no harm in letting us use it again. I'm sure we can make arrangements right?"

The brunette blushed so bad she looked feverish, she giggled as nervously as a schoolgirl covering her mouth to then stroke his shoulder. Mira cleared her throat, and got a considerable amount of jewels from her purse; she took a step forward without looking at Laxus and threw them on top of the table. This simple action caused him to shrug and become still.

"One of each from the menu and all the beer you can spare. Don't even dare going upstairs if we don't call kid, is that clear?" Mira said with her signature cute smile but her eyes could have burned a hole through the hostess head. Although Mira hadn't transformed into anything scary, the dark energy leaving her body was so strong the girl just nodded and ran away from her spot to prepare the second floor.

Laxus stayed frozen solid for a few seconds, then he proceeded to remove his arm from the table and cleared his throat. He turned to look at Mira but she was already walking back outside with an extra swag on her hips, he sighed and cleared the sweat from his forehead while observing her hips moving from side to side a bit more than necessary.

Lucy hugged Mira and laughed, "Oh Mira you are so much better at this than Laxus! He's been making us wait outside for over half an hour every day before getting the space" Mira's brow twitched a bit as her not-so-sweet smile kicked back in "Oh, did he? Well I guess I'm more concerned with the well-being of my friends than on sliding my …"

Laxus cleared his throat again and interrupted "Tables are ready" No one moved, they were all sensing the tension from the Take Over mage, if there was something they knew, it was -Never ever piss MiraJane Strauss off- unless you want to die in the most horrible way possible.

Once she walked through the crowd and passed Laxus, they started walking inside and up the stairs.

Laxus awkwardly took a chair to offer it to Mira who glanced at him and huffed before moving between Freed and Bickslow making them even more uncomfortable as their adored non-leader gave them a terrifying look.

Once settled, Makarov stood up on his chair and tried to push some sense into their heads.

"We are here today not celebrating but aching! We have survived this long because we have stuck together against all odds; we've survived dark guilds, losses and more pain than anyone should have experienced in a lifetime, but we are still here!" The mages nodded in agreement each having a different flashback that marked their time in the guild.

"It pains me, more than what you would ever know, to see you are still not able to hold your own" this caused some of them to flinch a bit and look at him in disbelief.

A few voices started commenting from "I've held myself in battle a thousand times!" to "I've done everything for this guild".

Makarov shook his head again "I, I, I? You stubborn children did all of that by yourselves?" Silence took over the table as he paced and continued "throughout all of these years of making teams, rebuilding, fighting with our lives! The one thing that has been constant is that you haven't done it alone! We are family, and each of you still feels the need to take on more than you should without thinking on how much better it would be if we shared the burden"

Lucy squeezed her hands together trying to contain the tears in her eyes while Bickslow just looked at the rest of the mages on the table then looking down as his palms.

"Fairy tail has always been a place to call home, and to welcome those in need. I've raised most of you myself and I will defend you against anyone who dares to lay a hand on you. You've been your strongest self when fighting for the ones you love, and still today you face loss because you refuse to trust each other"

Lucy stood up so quickly that her dark wooden chair fell back on the floor; she hit the table with her bare hands causing them to sting before she could find the words in her head "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault… I should have told you everything since the beginning. I just…" Juvia stood up and hugged Lucy; the blonde didn't move, but she bit her lip and squinted her eyes "Juvia is sorry too; Juvia couldn't stand watching people getting hurt. Juvia jumped knowing she would die… Ju… I was scared too…"

Lucy wrapped her arms around the bluenette, and cried on her shoulder as Juvia stroke her back in a soothing way. Bickslow stood up next and cleared his throat "I...made things worse, I lost my temper and… I almost used my magic against the inquisitor…" more than a few opened their mouths in surprise but no one dared to speak. Mira held Bickslow's hand and stroked it with her thumb giving him a motherly look "You tried to protect what was important to you Bicks" she tilted her head, and crooked her mouth "Maybe not the best way to do it" she giggled a bit "But we can't really judge, can we?" Bickslow nodded and went back to his seat.

Some of them giggled a bit, but stopped when they heard a low whisper coming from the other end of the table "We… we were planning on taking him out" Levy closed her eyes trying to register her own words; Erza laid a hand on her shoulder before explaining a bit further "We should have trusted our guild mates… We decided if there was no other choice then we would take care of business ourselves" Cana put both hands behind her head "I'm not drunk enough for all this sharing…seriously, anyone? Another beer" A few head nods and hands up got everyone back to reality.

Laxus huffed "Well at least we weren't the only ones facing dishonor and persecution"

That's when everything sank in their brains; everyone was trying to help each other but no one was looking for help and that's exactly how things have become as messed up as they were.

That's when Lucy turned to Juvia and held both her hands; she stared at the master who nodded before she faced her friend's eyes again "Juvia… the reason why Gray is not here is that he refused to cooperate and got held… as an accomplice. We are not sure where he is right now. We should have told you..."

Juvia's eyes watered but she didn't flinch, she took a deep breath and held Lucy again "Juvia appreciates you telling the truth Lucy" She faced her guild mates again after cleaning her face with the back of her hand, she said "Juvia knows Gray-sama will be back; we just need to find a way to help him...together"

Makarov smiled knowing that despite the awkwardness and oversharing, today his children were stronger than yesterday and that would make them survive. This feeling remained although it washed out a bit once Cana's drinking peer pressure got ahold of some guild members.

* * *

Gray didn't know how long he'd been detained; he was kept in a dark humid room where he was taken after being held in the hospital for a few hours. His pride was a bit bruised along with his ribs and his face; the cuffs that stopped him from using his magic were so tight that his wrists were sore and red.

From where he was held he could see about fifteen more cells, most of them empty; each had space for only one prisoner sleeping on the floor with not even a rag to lay on. The gray cold stone surrounding the place would create an echo from smallest sound, and the black metal bars seemed to be reinforced with magic too; he could tell from the slight humming sound coming from them, which also echoed from wall to wall. The only other sound keeping him company was either one of the other few prisoners screaming in agony when their jailors visited, or the small sound of a water drop falling to the cold floor every few seconds, it was enough to make someone lose their mind, but Gray was determined to keep himself together.

Every time the water drop fell on the floor causing a light acute sound, his eye twitched; but then he found a recent memory that helped him cope and keep his sanity intact for longer. He smiled at himself for being so hardheaded, and regretted all the time he had wasted being far from Juvia before noticing her. It was funny for him, the sound of the water drop now made him remember the beginning of it all.


	17. Chapter 17

**So, last time I said I would add a note from where the Juvia and Gray story ended but I got carried away and it became too long so this chapter will be only for that. If there's someone that doesn't want to read about the background on how they got together, just skip to the very end since that's the important note to continue the story. This chapter is a bit less serious.**

Additional note: Ansel and Greg are original characters from a different story no available in this website.

-A-

* * *

"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart."

― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

* * *

Gray didn't know how long he'd been detained; he was kept in a dark humid room where he was taken after being held in the hospital for a few hours. His pride was a bit bruised along with his ribs and his face; the cuffs that stopped him from using his magic were so tight that his wrists were sore and red.

From where he was held he could see about fifteen more cells, most of them empty; each had space for only one prisoner sleeping on the floor with not even a rag to lay on. The gray cold stone surrounding the place would create an echo from smallest sound, and the black metal bars seemed to be reinforced with magic too; he could tell from the slight humming sound coming from them, which also echoed from wall to wall. The only other sound keeping him company was either one of the other few prisoners screaming in agony when their jailors visited, or the small sound of a water drop falling to the cold floor every few seconds, it was enough to make someone lose their mind, but Gray was determined to keep himself together.

Every time the water drop fell on the floor causing a light acute sound, his eye twitched; but then he found a recent memory that helped him cope and keep his sanity intact for longer. He smiled at himself for being so hardheaded, and regretted all the time he had wasted being far from Juvia before noticing her. It was funny for him, the sound of the water drop now made him remember the beginning of it all.

 **Flashback**

 _Gray had lost count of how many times he had hidden, escaped, or ran from Juvia's extremely obsessive behavior; no matter what he did, she wouldn't stay away from him. He had always been somewhat rude and cold to her but never to the extreme, desperation started sinking into him as he realized she would never stop_

 _He opened the door to the guildhall just enough to see if she was there, and relaxed when he noticed none of the girls. He walked in and saw Gajeel, and Natsu arguing on a table at the back._

 _"Oi! Flame breath, who's serving?"_

 _"No one is! The place is supposed to be closed today, the girls left to do...something?"_

 _It seemed Gajeel and Natsu had been there for a while since there was a rosy color on their cheeks, which was probably to the excess of beer._

 _"Ice Princess! Make yourself useful and get some more beer!"_

 _"I ain't getting you shit! Get up your lazy ass!"_

 _Natsu got up and shoot himself towards Gray, which happily responded by punching his face to the floor; Natsu quickly spun his leg around and threw him too and that's when the usual daily brawl started._

 _They settled after a while, got more beer and sat in silence. Of course, Natsu wasn't one to stop messing with people. He looked behind Gray and waved "Hi Juvia!" Gray quickly flinched and got to his feet to face the door, only to notice the place remained empty._

 _"What the hell Flame Brain!" Natsu laughed so hard he fell on the floor tearing a bit "Oh come on Stripper! You love the attention"_

 _A deep growl came from Gajeel's throat "Oi! Stop messing with rain woman already! Stay away from her, she's good people... dumbass"_

 _Natsu had forgotten Juvia was probably one of Gajeel's best friends and kind of regretted his comment but kept laughing as soon as he noticed Gray's outraged face "I SHOULD STAY AWAY?! GLADLY!" he sat down, crossing his arms and pouting a bit._

 _"Well you ain't trying hard enough, are you? She's still following you!"_

 _"I'm not leading her on! What do you want me to do? Punch her in the face?"_

 _The look that came from Gajeel's cold expression could have frozen the place off worse than Gray's magic "If you ever touch her, I'll slit your throat with my sword, ok princess?"_

 _"Seriously? For Mavis sake! I would never touch her"_

 _Natsu laughed again "Oh! But you let her touch you all the time!" it took longer to finish the sentence than to get hit by a huge Ice hammer and a large steel club; he fell to the floor and rubbed his head "Hey! You guys can't take a joke… damn it"_

 _Gajeel got serious and rubbed his chin "Ya really want to make her stop? You'll have to be super clear, she doesn't get stuff the same way we do"_

 _"I do want her to stop, I just don't want to be really mean to her; she's still a guild mate, and she helps me a lot when we team up"_

 _Natsu who finally got off his ass from the ground pitched in "Well you ain't have much of a choice, you can't have it all dumbass"_

 _Therefore, Gray decided the next day he would be clear to Juvia; he would tell her exactly how she made him feel with her continuous harassment. He understood this could break their teamwork, but was willing to do it anyways. The next day he waited for Juvia outside of the guild._

 _"Gray-sama! Juvia missed you so much!" The bluenette ran towards him only to bump into his hand._

 _"We need to talk"_

 _"Oh Juvia would love to talk to Gray-sama"_

 _"No, I'll talk and you listen. Look this ain't easy… you need to stop chasing me around" Juvia wrinkled her nose still not understanding "Would Gray-sama like Juvia to schedule time together?"_

 _"NO! Juvia, come on! I don't want to be with you, I'm never gonna want to be with you! And you chasing me around is not going to change that ok? I'm tired of you creeping out of every fucking corner, your continuous harassment needs to fucking stop, you hear?!"_

 _Juvia held her hand to her mouth as her eyes watered, dark clouds started to fill the sky slowly "Juvia doesn't mind if Gray-sama doesn't love her the way she loves him, Juvia will make herself useful"_

 _Gray hissed through his nostrils in anger "It's not like that, you keep saying that you'll stay even if I don't love you the way you do, that's the thing! I don't love you at all, in any way, and I never will, do you understand?"_

 _Rain started pouring violently as Juvia couldn't hold her tears anymore. She turned around running back from where she came from. Gray sighed before he heard a voice behind him._

 _"Way to go Ice stick...but...I think you overdid it. Oh by the way, you were a bit loud and some of the girls may have overheard… Erza is inside and they are probably telling her already" Natsu grinned widely as Gray gulped picturing Erza pulling a thousand swords and throwing him off the bridge looking like a pincushion._

 _He went inside looking like a nervous wreck as all eyes were on him; the rest of the guys were all crammed in a corner waiting for the worse to happen; they've all grown up inside the guild and knew very well when to bow out from a discussion between their angry female guild mates and… well, anyone. The women were on the bar now, and looked right at him as he walked slowly towards the guys when a strong arm grabbed him by the neck and threw him on the floor._

 _"What the hell Gray?!" To his surprise the hand belong to Lucy; Erza and Mira were right behind her giving him a deadly stare._

 _"Hey! I just wanted her to leave me alone! The girl can't take a hint!"_

 _"Still! That's no way to behave to someone that has done so much for you! You ungrateful little..." Lucy was furious; he'd never thought she of all people would care about Juvia getting hurt._

 _"Well…" He looked at the table and stared at Gajeel and Natsu who were staring back at him and shaking their heads in a silent plea. He pointed at them directly "Well they thought it was the best way to do it!"_

 _The rest of the guys ran away from that corner leaving Gajeel and Natsu behind, before searching for shelter closer to the door. As if taken from a horror movie, the women cranked their necks slowly until their shiny eyes met the frozen pair of dragon slayers who were as pale as a white sheet of paper._

 _Erza stomped her foot on the ground causing the guild to tremble "YOU?!"_

 _Both mages shook their heads rapidly and consistently "No, No that's not what we said!" Gajeel said directly staring at Levy who was equally mad and started writing something on the air._

 _"Solid Script! Thunder" the lightning struke them directly making them fall on the ground; it didn't take long for them to get up, but they soon realized it would have been better to stay there. They looked up to see Cana and Lisanna now standing next to Levy with their face so contorted in anger that they felt the need to run._

 _TRIPLE UNISON EXPLOSION! After the explosion hit, they looked more like a piece of charcoal than like themselves. Gray was holding back his laughter when suddenly Mira grabbed him and threw him right next to them._

 _Natsu stood up quickly trying to explain "OI! We never told him to say that! We said if he wanted her to stop, he had to be super clear! We never said he has to be a total dick about it!"_

 _The female "demons" observed Natsu and Gajeel; Gray attempted to take the opportunity to leave before Lucy got ahold of him with her whip and pulled him back right in the middle of the angriest group of women he had ever seen. The fairies used the rest of their energy on punishing Gray._

 _Once they felt he had enough they stopped only to notice it was still pouring outside; Lucy had seen this before when they met Juvia, and was worried about the girl being outside by herself._

 _Lucy ran outside of the guild with her hands covering her head, which didn't make much difference since the rain got harder and thicker. She ran through a rocky path hoping she could find the bluenette and followed it until she crossed the river bridge; she stood there trying to see ahead but the rain was so strong she could barely see anything._

 _She soon sighed thinking this would be an impossible quest when she heard a small whimper below the bridge. Lucy carefully descended through the now slippery path, but fell landing on her bottom clumsily._

 _"Lucy! Are you hurt?"_

 _"Juvia!" Lucy got up and took shelter under the bridge "No, I'm fine. How are you?"_

 _"Oh, Juvia is fine…" the corners of her lips rose in a smile that didn't reach her eyes; it was a face she had practiced many times during her childhood._

 _"You don't have to lie; we… heard you and Gray from inside the guild"_

 _"Oh…" Juvia turned away to hide her face; the thought of everyone knowing how things went, and the things he said made her feel too ashamed to show her face. Lucy noticed and grabbed both her hands._

 _"He was such a dick!"_

 _"Lucy, no! This is Juvia's fault! Gray-sama could never love someone like Juvia. Juvia is not good enough…"_

 _Just hearing those words coming out of her mouth caused a sensation in Lucy's body that she had never felt before. Her skin felt like burning, and her head was about to explode; she felt a sharp pain in her chest._

 _"What are you talking about!?" Juvia tried to interrupt and explain, but she was stopped immediately by Lucy who had still plenty to say "Have you seen yourself in the mirror!? You are drop dead gorgeous, funny, smart, and caring! You could have anyone you want, and you are crying over a guy who's TOO STUPID to understand how fantastic you are!"_

 _Juvia opened her mouth in surprise by her love rival's statement; she couldn't remember ever listening to someone say such nice things about her, and she certainly never thought to hear them from the person she thought would try to take Gray away from her._

 _"Juvia is not those things! Juvia is lucky to have a little bit of Gray-sama in her life"_

 _"NO, he is lucky to have you, and he won't know how lucky he is because you don't step back. Look, I'm not saying it will happen between you two, but you need to step back and let him see what his life would be without you. Whatever that is, wouldn't you prefer to have him as a friend than not to have him at all?"_

 _"Yes, Gray is important to Juvia. Gray brought the sunshine to Juvia's life"_

 _"Ok, give him his space and take some space for you. You are drenched; we are close to my house, why don't you stay over?"_

 _Juvia had a warm feeling invading her heart; she had been fighting against Lucy for so long she never noticed how polite and loving she was. The bluenette finally smiled and nodded; it was still raining, but it was more like a drizzle now. Both mages walked to Lucy's house, which was no more than a few blocks away._

 _Both mages entered the apartment dripping over the floor; Lucy went to the closet to get a couple of towels handing one to Juvia. "You should take a warm bath; you don't want to get sick do you?" Lucy smiled at her with kindness before preparing a nice warm bath for her friend. Once Juvia was finished, Lucy lend her some dry clothes and took a bath herself._

 _She took her clothes off and had just stepped in the tub when she heard a voice she knew well "Oi! Luce! What the…" Lucy rolled her eyes and got out of the tub covering herself with a short white towel. She opened the door to find Juvia naked, and holding the towel against her body while Natsu was leaning on the window frame "Why is Juvia naked in your house?" Lucy held her fist up; her brow twitched "STOP BREAKING INTO MY HOUSE, YOU PERV! LUCY KICK!"_

 _Lucy was panting, and clenching her fists "Oh Juvia I'm so sorry! I didn't think he would come"_

 _Juvia was blushing, but she didn't make a big deal about it "Lucy, does Natsu break into your house often?" Lucy snorted in annoyance "Often? Ugh, he eats all my food and wrecks the place so bad that I usually pay extra rent to cover the damages…" after a few seconds of silence they burst into laughter. They both knew that for some bizarre reason, Natsu was not uncomfortable with nakedness. Lucy remembered the first time she heard Erza, Gray, and Natsu used to take baths together as if it wasn't a big deal to be naked around each other._

 _Lucy made some tea and they both sat down on the couch, after warming up a bit they continued talking about Gray; Lucy was trying hard to get her point across Juvia's head; the bluenette was so hopelessly in love with the ice mage, and so little with herself that this proved to be a hard task._

 _"Juvia, have you ever dated someone?"_

 _"Hmm, once a long time ago but Gajeel-kun said he wasn't good for Juvia and scared him away"_

 _"Well yeah Gajeel can be scary… sometimes"_

 _"Gajeel is a good guy; he cares a lot for Juvia"_

 _"I've noticed. So why don't you date someone? Maybe that's exactly what you need"_

 _"Oh… Juvia couldn't, Juvia is very much in love with Gray-sama"_

 _"Well you should at least practice dating" As the words left her mouth she realized how dumb her comment was; how could you ever practice dating if you didn't want to date._

 _"Juvia could have a practice date!"_

 _"Well, that's kind of still dating isn't it? You would have to find someone that knew it wasn't a real date, and that wouldn't go all crazy about you" Lucy smirked at her teasingly "We've already established you are a knockout! That's gonna be hard to accomplish"_

 _Juvia blushed and laid her fingertip on her bottom lip; she thought for a minute and then clapped her hands together and smiled "Juvia knows the perfect friend for a practice date! Juvia will ask him tomorrow, Lucy… would you go with Juvia to visit him?"_

 _Lucy smiled and nodded; she thought this was probably not easy for her friend and decided she would do anything she could to help her overcome the hard situation she was facing. They kept talking for a few hours before falling asleep._

 _The next day they agreed to meet downtown at noon; Juvia wanted to go home and change before going to see her friend. They walked in silence for a bit; they surely bonded the day before, but in the light of day it was still a bit awkward; Lucy noticing things were not as relaxed as the day before, decided to make conversation._

 _"So, where did you meet your friend?"_

 _"Oh, Juvia met him a few months after joining Fairy tail. Juvia was walking around getting to know town when she found his shop"_

 _"His shop?"_

 _"Yeah! Here we are. Let's go!" Juvia pointed at an establishment. The sign above read "Le Nuage" written in beautiful cursive letters; the outside almost fully covered with glass, and adorned by mint color curtains. The place was decorated with pastel colored art, white brigg French chairs, and varied flowers on every table with a pearly string wrapped on every vase._

 _The smell surrounding the place was magic; every deep breath carried a different one, caramel, cinnamon, chocolate; there were so many Lucy had lost count and was trying to not drool on such a lovely place._

 _They kept talking for a few minutes, but were interrupted by the man trying to take their order. He was as tall Laxus, with a wide, very well built, back; His black, short hair fell above the big, shiny, cerulean pools that were his eyes. He was wearing a pair of tight black dress pants and a simple white button shirt._

 _"Juvia!"_

 _"Hi Ansel-san!"_

 _"I guess you'll have your usual? and what for your gorgeous blonde friend?" he said winking at Lucy who was now blushing so hard she felt she wanted to hide her face under the white tablecloth._

 _"Am...I...Hi" She gave him a shy smile "I'm Lucy"_

 _"Oh!" he turned to look at Juvia in surprise "Lucy? As in your love rival Lucy?" Lucy was in shock; she realized this was someone Juvia trusted and talked to, how else could he have known about her; she wondered how much he knew about Gray, and if Juvia would tell him about what happened the day before._

 _Juvia giggled covering her mouth "Ansel-san, Lucy is now Juvia's good friend. Lucy is not Juvia's love rival" Ansel nodded giving them both a smile; God that smile looked like a million bucks. He removed his hair from his eyes with his right hand, and leaned into the table "That's great! Pretty girls like you should stick together, although you'll probably attract more looks that way" another wink; Lucy's face was now as red as an apple._

 _"Lucy has never been here, so I was thinking…"_

 _"Say no more! I know exactly what to bring" The man turned around, and started walking back to the counter. Lucy's eyes wandered a bit to his back all the way to the tight pants, outlining the perfect shape of his derrière._

 _"Oh my… Juvia! You need to date him! Fuck, you need to marry him!" Juvia giggled again, "Yeah, Ansel-san has that effect on people"_

 _"Where, where did you meet such a guy?"_

 _"Juvia and Gajeel come all the time to buy sweets and bread" In no time, Ansel came back with a huge tray filled with the most delicious looking pastry Lucy had ever set her eyes on. Éclairs, Kouign Amann, pastel colored Macarons, Mille-Feuille, and a small Tarte Tatin decorated the table along with two cups of coffee with a delicious hazelnut scent._

 _Lucy's eyes sparked like a child inside the biggest toy store in the world "Wow, this looks… wow" Ansel smiled at the blonde nodding proudly "The best in town ma'am"_

 _"Ansel-san, are you too busy to talk to Juvia and Lucy for a bit?"_

 _He looked at his friend noticing there was something on her mind, he shook his head "No, of course not. I'll ask Nanako to cover the tables" He left to talk to the petite girl behind the counter before grabbing a cup of coffee for himself and joining the two mages on the table._

 _"So, what's on your mind pretty girl?"_

 _Juvia sighed and looked down. Lucy held her hand bringing Juvia's eyes back to her; she smiled at her friend and nodded encouraging her to narrate the events of the day before with excruciating detail. Ansel had stopped blinking for so long his eyes felt dry; his mouth was partially opened while listening to the story._

 _"What a dick! He deserves a good pounding, what the hell is wrong with him?" Lucy smiled proudly "Oh and what a pounding he got… we took care of it yesterday. Anyways, Juvia and I were talking about how she needs to move forward, but she is a bit anxious about dating"_

 _"You should totally date. That piece of shit doesn't deserve your attention"_

 _Juvia frowned a bit; she didn't like people saying those things about Gray, but she also knew they said those things because they cared for her. "Juvia was wondering, would Ansel-san teach Juvia how to date?"_

 _Ansel now looked confused, which led to Lucy adding her two cents into the conversation "We were thinking since Juvia hasn't dated in a long time, maybe going on a practice date would take the edge off, you know?"_

 _His smile got bigger by the second "Of course! I'll take you on the best date of your life" Lucy thought he looked a bit too excited; she held her finger up and continued "Of course you know this is a fake date right? She isn't ready yet for an actual relationship"_

 _Both Juvia and Ansel blinked a couple of times before bursting into laughter; Lucy was blushing again, she didn't understand what was so funny about her statement. The little bell above the door rang to announce a new customer._

 _"Juvia!"_

 _The newcomer rushed to get closer to the table. He was shorter than Ansel, but tall to Lucy's standards; his chin was sharp and elegant, and his brows thick, matching his hair, and underneath them a pair of shiny olive eyes. He had short brown hair and although he was lean, his body was well built. He was wearing a blue short sleeve casual shirt, which traced his toned arms and abs, and a pair of tight dark jeans._

 _"Greg!" The man threw the bags he was holding on the floor before wrapping Juvia in a hug; he grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her forehead. Lucy's eye was twitching, -who the hell are these people?-_

 _Ansel crossed his arms above his chest and shook his head "Can you get those bags from the floor? We have customers here you know?"_

 _Greg smiled and stood behind his chair letting his hands rest on Ansel's shoulders. He grabbed his face from behind and tilted it back so he could face him before placing a kiss on his nose "Relax! I'll get to it"_

 _He picked the bags up from the floor and headed towards the stairs on the back "I'll get this upstairs and be back in no time ok?"_

 _Lucy looked at Juvia and then turned to Ansel a couple of times a bit confused "Ok, so, he is your...?" He smiled looking at Juvia, and then turned back to celestial mage with a big smile on his face "Well, Juvia would say he is MY sunshine"_

 _Lucy smiled, as she finally understood why Juvia wasn't nervous about going on a date with one of the most gorgeous men she had ever seen . "This is perfect! So when are you two going on your awesome date?"_

 _Ansel rubbed his chin "Mhm, well Greg is going out of town for work, and won't be back until Tuesday. Why don't we do it on Friday?" Juvia smiled and nodded enthusiastically "It's a date then! You are treating this as a real date doll, so, dress up"_

 _Lucy and Juvia kept talking to him while they finished the rest of their pastries and coffee. After that, they decided to walk back to the guild; conversation seemed less awkward than before._

 _"Juvia, I think if someone asks, you should say you are going on a date, but don't mention that it's a practice date ok?"_

 _"But, it IS a practice date"_

 _Lucy had a plan hidden on the back of her head and gave her playful smile "Yes, but we are pretending that this is a real date, right? So it needs to be real in every way possible"_

 _"Mhm yeah, Juvia thinks you are right"_

 _"One more thing… I know it's going to be hard, but from now on you need to ignore Gray"_

 _"Oh Lucy! Juvia doesn't know if she can do that" a painful look made its way to Juvia's face; small dark clouds started accumulating above their heads._

 _"Listen! You like helping Gray; think about this as helping him understand how important your friendship is to him, after all, you said whatever happens you want to keep the sunshine in your life, right?"_

 _"Yes, Juvia needs the sunshine...Juvia will try to ignore Gray-sama"_

 _They walked straight to the guild and opened the door. Everyone seemed surprised when they noticed them walking together with arms intertwined, and laughing. Juvia noticed Gray was there sitting with Gajeel and Natsu, but decided not to pay attention and made her way to the bar where the rest of the girls were._

 _Levy was the first one to ask, "Hey Juvia, how are you feeling?"_

 _"Juvia feels much better thanks to Lucy!"_

 _Lucy looked back at the table noticing Gray trying not to stare; she could only hope the events would unfold as she expected._

 _"She feels better alright, so much better she's got a hot date on Friday, and when I say hot date I mean ice-melting, knee bending, gasping for air HOT!"_

 _The girls jumped from their sits inquiring for more details overwhelming Juvia with attention. Lucy glanced discreetly at the boys table noticing Gajeel and Natsu now staring at them leaning over to get the details, she giggled - oh Lucy you are so smart -_

 _"Well Ice-Princess, your plan sure worked" Gray looked at Natsu who had a grin plastered on his face. "You are officially free from Juvia's attention"_

 _Gajeel who seemed a bit less happy about his friend going out with yet another douche kept listening to the conversation between the girls with his enhanced hearing; he heard the name Ansel and got even more confused - what the hell… Ansel?...- That's when he noticed the blonde staring at him. She laid a finger above her mouth signaling silence before winking at him._

 _Gajeel laughed and covered his face with one hand while the other two mages stared at him_

 _"What's so funny?" Gray inquired with an annoyed look._

 _"Oh you got rid of her alright. She is going on a date on Friday, apparently a hot one"_

 _"Oh shut up, that's not possible" Gray had a smug look on his face; he was sure there was no way Juvia would be devastated one day and going on a date the next._

 _Natsu turned to him still smiling "Mhm well apparently Lucy thinks he is…" he rolled his eyes and made a dumb voice "Gorgeous" he huffed a bit without understanding why this was bothering him so much, but decided to disregard his thoughts and go back to the present conversation._

 _"Well that's great for her; she can go on her date and leave me alone for good" Gray crossed his arms above his chest and rested his back on the chair. He felt a sting inside but didn't mention it._

 _"Well I know the guy; she's gonna have a good time"_

 _Gray stayed silent but Natsu was more than curious about the guy Lucy had referred to as an almost Demi-God "Oh you do? Who is he?"_

 _"Is this guy who owns a bakery downtown, a pretty good one actually. Fancy guy ya know? I was planning to stop by before going home anyways if you care to join me"_

 _Gray rejected the offer at first, but after being teased by Natsu about him being scared of finding out how much better than him the guy was, he decided to follow both Dragon Slayers. When they finally got to "Le Nuage" Gajeel opened the door making the bell ring._

 _"Oi! Ansel"_

 _"Hey man!" They bumped their fists together smiling at each other in confidence "Your usual order?"_

 _"Yeah, make that one to go, will ya?" Ansel nodded and took a carton box where he carefully placed the delicious pastry._

 _"Oh these two idiots are from the guild too. Natsu and Gray, meet Ansel"_

 _Ansel immediately pulled his head out of the counter and gave Gray a dirty look "Oh… so this is Gray"_

 _"Yeah. Hey, so I heard you're taking rain woman on a date?"_

 _Ansel showed a crooked smile and turned his attention back to Gajeel "Oh yeah! And what a date I have planned. That girl is not gonna know what hit her"_

 _Gray was clenching his jaw but said nothing while he kept listening to the conversation "Im taking her to the theatre, then some nice dinner at a fancy restaurant… who knows, maybe I'll bring her back to my place after that"_

 _"Oi! I don't want to know what she does after dark, ya hear? What about your… roommate?"_

 _Gajeel couldn't think of a better word; he knew Lucy would kill him if he blew up their cover story "Oh… he'll be out of town so I'll have the house all to myself. Would that be all Gajeel?"_

 _"Yeah, thanks" Gajeel threw some jewels on the counter and left the shop with both ice and fire mages following close behind him. Once they got to the fork separating the way back to the guild from Gajeel's usual road back home, they each went their separate ways._

 _The next day passed quickly, the girls had decided to take Juvia out shopping for her date, and selected numerous outfits that showed a bit more skin than what she was comfortable with; however, she was determined to get out of her comfort zone and got them anyways._

 _It was now Friday; Gray hadn't seen Juvia in almost three days, and it was bothering him a bit. He didn't say anything but figured there was something wrong since he was a bit more moody than usual. He was sitting on his usual table having a beer when Mira, Lisanna, Levy, and Lucy walked in; he was about to turn around when he noticed someone else walking behind them._

 _Juvia was wearing a tight sapphire blue slip dress that made her legs look miles long; although she was used to covering more of her skin, this time her cleavage showed her perfect silhouette. Her hair was a bit curled and her face looked natural aside from a bit of blush and soft pink lipstick._

 _Gray couldn't help but to stare at her, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the girls. Lucy was stuck in between laughing and feeling bad for her very clueless male friend staring with a dumbfounded look._

 _"Oh Juvia you look FA-BU-LOUS" All the girls nodded in agreement; there was no one that could argue about it. "At what time did he say he was going to pick you up?"_

 _"Ansel said he'll be here at 7:00, so anytime now"_

 _Gray kept tapping his foot on the floor telling himself he was not bothered by the situation at all; he had asked her to leave him alone, which she did; he had asked her to move her attention somewhere else, so, why did he feel so annoyed? Since the day she had stopped paying attention to him, he felt a bit more lonely than usual._

 _A few minutes passed when Ansel went through the door looking dashing. He was wearing a dark gray suit that fitted him perfectly._

 _"Hey pretty girl!"_

 _The girls' jaws dropped on the spot, he was elegant, handsome, and confident. Cana leaned over Lucy "Where can we buy one of those?" Lucy just smiled at her and pushed her away._

 _"Are you ready?"_

 _"Juvia is ready, where are we going?"_

 _Ansel wrapped his arm around her waist, and glanced discreetly to Gray who was giving him a deadly look. "First the theatre, then dinner, and then… we'll see…" Juvia gave him a huge smile and nodded. The rest of the girls were now blushing while trying to contain they urge to scream excitedly._

 _Gajeel and Natsu sat next to Gray who was frowning quietly. "Oi stripper, Juvia looked real pretty, don't you think?"_

 _"She looked alright I guess"_

 _"You guess? That woman has never shown an extra inch of skin since I've known her; I barely recognized her when she walked in" Gajeel would never think of Juvia that way, but he was bored and teasing Gray was fun._

 _"Yeah! that dress leaves little to the imagination for sure" Natsu aimed his eyes at Gray before shooting "Not that I would have to imagine, of course" both mages looked confused, but before they asked, Lucy's fist connected with Natsu's head "Perv!" Natsu rubbed his head and pouted at Lucy "Oh come on, it's a joke!" she gave him an angry look before sitting, shortly after that, they were joined by Mira and Levy._

 _"Don't be saying those things without context Natsu… The idiot broke into my apartment as usual; Juvia had just finished showering and was changing when he walked in on her… naked"_

 _"It was an accident! And you kicked me!"_

 _"Whatever!" Lucy snorted, "So girls what did you think of Ansel?"_

 _Mira fanned herself with her hand and rolled her eyes "He is so...I don't think there's a word for it!" Levy imitated her movements and acted as if she was fainting over Mira's shoulder before laughing, "I know! I bet a guy like that would take your mind off anything… don't you?" this went on and on without noticing the annoyed expression of the three guys sitting with them._

* * *

 _The date was magnificent; Juvia had never been treated in such a way. He opened every door and chair, he made her laugh and commented on how beautiful she looked; it was incredible how those simple details could make her feel happy and sad at the same time; she was happy she knew how it was supposed to be, and sad since she'd never truly experienced such a thing._

 _After dinner they walked holding hands all the way to his apartment where he made some tea and placed pastry on the coffee table for her "Did you have fun?" he knew she had, but also noticed her smile was not complete._

 _"Juvia had a lot of fun… it's just…"_

 _"You would love to do this with him"_

 _Juvia sighed and rubbed her shoulder "Yeah…"_

 _Ansel walked to the window to close the curtains; he smiled at her and sat on the couch extending his arm "Come here"_

* * *

 _Gray was trying to cool off (ironic isn't it…) after listening for hours to how perfect Ansel was, and how beautiful Juvia looked "Of course she looked pretty… why can't I just say that. Why do I care if she goes on date; it's not like I care for her in that way…". He walked by the bakery, and notice the lights were on inside the second floor, "Hmm short date… it was probably horrible" the corner of his lip curled up, but this quickly changed once he saw the hint of blue hair walking by the window._

 _"Fuck...she is up there? FUCK...Ok no, I don't care! I should go home" His body was not really listening to him anymore; he took a quick jump and landed on the ledge next to the window. Ansel, who was clueless about Gray's presence at this point, walked to the window and closed the curtains._

 _Gray started listening to the conversation; he felt ridiculous but couldn't stop "Come here"_

 _"Oh Ansel…"_

 _"You look tired; you should take your shoes off. Let me help you with that"_

 _Gray heard a yelp that slowly transformed into slight moan. He couldn't believe it; there she was with the guy looking perfect and moaning at his touch. The same sharp pain from last time filled his chest, this time it was stronger._

 _"Turn around"_

 _"Juvia doesn't understand"_

 _"Yeah just turn around, you'll feel so much better afterwards. I'm going to press hard now, it may sting a bit"_

 _Gray was ready to leave; listening to this was harder than what he thought. He commanded his feet to move but he was just sitting there shaking. He heard a yelp again but this time it sounded like pain._

 _"Ansel that hurts!"_

 _"Because you are so stressed! It'll pass I promise"_

 _Another yelp and that was it. Gray wasn't planning on sitting there listening to Juvia get hurt; he wouldn't allow it. He froze the window, and kicked it before jumping inside the apartment in anger; he took his fighting stand fisting one hand into his palm "Ice Make…" he stopped when noticing a fully dressed Juvia getting a shoulder rub from Ansel._

 _"Gray...sama?"_

 _A huge sweat drop appeared on his forehead while he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times trying to find the right words._

 _"What the hell man!?"_

 _"I thought… I… "_

 _"You thought what? To spy on Juvia on her date? Seriously!"_

 _Gray created an ice panel to cover the window, and promised to fix it first thing in the morning, before storming out ashamed and blushing. Juvia was even more confused now than before; she was trying to give him the space he so rudely demanded, and didn't understand why he reacted the way he did._

 _The next day Gray paid for the window to be repaired but decided not to go himself; the embarrassment was still fresh. He made his way to the guild to get some breakfast, and maybe get rid of some of the excess stress by picking a fight with Natsu. He was halfway to his usual table when he heard Cana._

 _"Ouch, Lucy! You are hugging me too hard!"_

 _"Cana don't say those things, wouldn't want Gray to wreck the place!"_

 _The group of female fairies laughed hard. He was extremely embarrassed, not only had he made an ass out himself in front of Juvia, but now since Juvia was more comfortable sharing with the girls, his embarrassing moment was of public knowledge. He turned back to the door and left._

 _"Oi! Lucy why would you say that?"_

 _"Natsu come on, you are the one who always complains that we can't take a joke"_

 _He gave them the most serious, and adult look they've seen on his face "You know what he thought was happening to Juvia right?" The girls looked at each other trying to find an answer to the question, after all, it was unlike Natsu to analyze things deeply "You always say I'm the immature one, and that I'm dense… but seriously, you didn't stop to think about it?" Natsu shook his head and gave them a disapproving look "Figure it out"._

 _He left the guild to try to catch Gray. Natsu couldn't understand embarrassment, but after years of knowing Gray, he knew he was not one to share his moments of weakness, and that… he could relate to._

 _Lucy still looked confused "Do any of you know what he was talking about?" the rest of the girls shook their head._

 _"Well, Bunny girl… as for the side of the story we know, he jumped in when he thought Juvia was being hurt… after a date… in a guys apartment...alone with him? Ringing any bells?" The girls opened their mouths in surprise as they realized what Gray thought was happening "I'm surprised Salamander figured it before you did. He probably thought something was happening without Juvia's full consent"_

 _Everyone was quiet now; what Gray had done sounded jealous and dumb, but listening to the conversation without context could have caused anyone to misunderstand the situation and act the same way._

 _Thanks to his acute nose, Natsu found Gray in a clear in the forest "training" although it looked more like getting rid of frustration; he knew better than to point that out. "Oi! training alone won't do you any good Ice Princess"_

 _"Bring it on Flame brain!"_

 _"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu placed both his hands to his mouth releasing a fire stream that built into a firewall. Gray reacted quickly to the upcoming attack; he fisted his hand against his palm_

 _"Ice-Make: Shield!" The flower looking glass wall that appeared in front of him broke after receiving the direct hit but gave him enough time for his next move._

 _"Ice-Make: Ice Geyser" The ground froze covered with ice spikes that made their way to Natsu; he jumped back several times until the attack stopped. He lit his feet creating a power boost strong enough to get him across the field. Natsu threw Gray on the ground, and landed above him pinning him down by his shoulders._

 _"Stop!"_

 _"Stop what! We ain't done Fire breath!"_

 _Natsu punched Gray on the face "I said stop! This ain't fixing shit!" Gray was still pushing Natsu by the shoulders; he suddenly stopped and looked away. "Get off me…"_

 _Natsu sighed; he sat on the floor, and crossed his legs and arms before continuing, "I know you are upset, but this is your fault"_

 _"Since when did you become the talk type? And who are you to say shit? As if you were so much better"_

 _He cleared his throat briefly before continuing "No clue what you are talking about, but that's not the point. Stop being stupid, you enjoy her company and you've been miserable for the last few days. Imagine if this keeps happening for years! I mean eventually she'll find someone you know?"_

 _"It's not that, I just though he…"_

 _"I know what you thought" Gray stared at the dragon slayer with disbelief he'd known him his whole life, and was sure at least in that area Natsu had to get things explained in detail "I would have done much worse than you. You just broke a window, and you stopped when you realized you were wrong. If I had heard someone getting hurt I would have acted quickly, but thinking it was the person I care about the most...hmm the place would have been burnt to ashes in a second… you know I have a tendency to over do it" Natsu plastered his signature smile on his face._

 _Gray stood there quiet for some time; silence was getting a bit uncomfortable, but Natsu wouldn't say more. "Why do you think she is the person I care about the most?" He nodded and looked up to the sky "We're fighters Gray, we relate to the people we care by fighting for them or with them; you are different with her"_

 _"Different how?"_

 _"Hmm that's a complicated question...I think… we've lost someone we care about at some point, so we relate best with people we know we can't hurt; you and I fight all the time, but we know we can hold each other's game you know?" Gray nodded without thinking much "Maybe… you think you are going to hurt her, and that's why you don't want to get close to her. You need to understand the people you lost didn't get hurt by your hand man"_

 _After a fair moment of shock Gray started laughing and laid on the floor "You are not as dense as people think, dumbass"_

 _"I'll deny this conversation ever happened"_

 _"You and me both… So… is that why you haven't made a move?"_

 _Natsu swallowed hard "I'm going on a solo mission, should be back in a couple of days. Be ready because I'm going to ask for a do over on this fight"_

 _"Anytime"_

 _Natsu rushed to get his things unwilling to continue the conversation. Little did he know this would be the mission that would change their world upside down causing him to go down the rabbit hole._

 _The next day Natsu would shake Fukuro's hand after getting his reward; his nightmares about losing the person he cared for the most would soon break his mind into pieces._

 _Gray laid on the floor with his hands below his head. There wasn't a single memory of his childhood after joining Fairy Tail without Natsu in it; they constantly fought, teased, and annoyed; but he couldn't say he wasn't right. Out of all people who he thought could knock "emotional sense" into his head, Natsu was the one he considered the least likely to._

 _He heard a twig break indicating movement, which made him stand from the ground in a swift move and take his fighting stance once more "Gray-sama?"_

 _"Oi! Juvia be careful! What… are you doing here?"_

 _"Juvia came to apologize"_

 _Gray took a couple steps forward "No Juvia, you did nothing wrong; I...mhm I should apologize"_

 _"Juvia feels bad, Gajeel told Juvia that the girls were being mean to Gray-sama"_

 _"Ha! That's ok, I kind of deserve it. I'm really sorry I interrupted your date Juvia…" He wasn't ready to have a larger conversation, so, after apologizing he turned around to grab his shirt, which he had lost at some point, and started walking away._

 _"Gray-sama...Why did you interrupt Juvia's date with Ansel?"_

 _He stopped cold with his back still towards her; his blood was rushing to his face as he realized that woman would to be his doom "I...I…" Juvia took a couple more steps and held his hand from behind "It's hard for Juvia to understand…" she let go of his hand, and covered her face "Juvia is sorry! Juvia is trying to give Gray-sama space"_

 _Juvia was about to leave, but Gray was now holding her hand "Don't…" he hissed through his teeth trying to find the words "I… do need space to figure out what's in my head, but I don't want you gone. I know it's selfish of me… not giving you an answer, and still expecting for you to stand by my side". Juvia sighed in relief "Juvia would never leave Gray-sama's side. Gray-sama brought the sunshine back to Juvia's life"_

 _He bit his lip, and turned around crossing his arms above his chest "Juvia… every woman who has ever been important in my life has died, and I've always felt it was my fault; I couldn't protect them. I don't want you to get hurt" Juvia's eyes watered; she understood the feeling of lost better than what most knew._

 _She closed the gap between them and hugged Gray from behind laying her hands on his stomach "Then Gray-sama should trust Juvia more. Juvia is strong and will always protect her sunshine"_

 _Gray felt his heart skip a bit; the warmth filling his chest was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. He laid his hands above Juvia's, and rubbed them with his thumbs; he didn't know how long they'd stayed there but the silent understanding between them was soothing._

 _Eventually they agreed things would go slowly until they were both able to figure things out without the constant intervention of their friends._

 **-End of Flashback –**

* * *

Gray was sitting on the cold humid stone wondering how she was doing; she was probably worried about him but there was nothing he could do. He rested on the cold musty wall and closed his eyes to get some rest.

He didn't know what time it was when the guard woke him up by hitting the metal bars "Fullbuster! Get up"

"Why…"

"You must have someone looking over you; you're getting out"

Gray stood up growling as he got up; the pain on his ribs was still bothering him. He was crossing the place that was surrounded by the many cells he'd seen before; he could still hear the water drops falling on the floor and the faint screaming, but there was something familiar about it this time – Natsu?-

"Oi! Wait a minute! Where is that coming from?"

"Move it kid!"

"No! Wait a second. NATSU?!"


	18. Chapter 18

**YO! Thanks to Nenley for her Beta skills :P hope y'all have a good night.**

* * *

 **All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take.**

 **\- Mahatma Gandhi -**

* * *

Natsu walked all night without resting; during the long hours he thought so much about his friends, his family, but mostly about her. He silently wished he had more time to correct his mistakes, to be gentler and more patient; he thought about all the things he could have told her over the years where they became not only team mates but best friends.

"Well, I guess I'll never know now, will I…" he could feel the thin thread holding him together growing weaker by the second, but he knew he had to hold it together long enough to spare them from his actions. It was his responsibility to close this door forever and no one else could take the weight off his shoulders.

He couldn't keep his thoughts aligned, exhaustion had taken the best of him; his stomach was so empty that it was an endless knot of pain that couldn't even growl; sleep deprivation was twisting his brain, and it didn't take long for him to be unable to distinguish reality from the games his mind played. It was funny how in moments of desperation your brain can turn against you to punish you from the sins you don't regret; he could clearly see Lucy walking next to him, her smile from ear to ear and holding her hands behind her back.

"Where are we going Natsu?"

"Luce… what are you doing here? You...you can't be here"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"I'm ending this, you need to go home"

"But, I am home… You are home"

He felt his heart break; the pain inside his chest was so big that he felt he couldn't breathe anymore. She was his home, and he was planning to keep that home away from danger whatever the cost.

"Natsu, what's in that box?" He flinched a bit and stopped cold; his hands were shaking and he could feel his eyes water at the innocent question; she was still smiling all the way from her mouth to her brown shiny eyes. She repeated the question "Natsu, what's in the box?"

"I...He...Lucy please…"

"What-is-in-the-box?" she separated each word and enunciated significantly more than usual, obviously to let him know the question wouldn't go away.

"HE IS IN THE BOX OK? I KILLED HIM! AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN"

She lost her smile but kept her eyes on him "Why?" It was such a simple question, but the answer wouldn't come out of his mouth. He stuttered for a bit, he opened his mouth several times trying to put the words together but it was so hard to explain, "He was going to hurt you… I couldn't let that happen"

Lucy smiled again, but her smile was all but innocent "Silly dragon… you didn't do this just for me. This would be much easier if you would stop lying to yourself"

"What the hell are you talking about? I did it for you! I took him out so you and our friends could go on!"

"Did you? Did you really? There was nothing else in that mind of yours, nothing instinctive about it?" she stared at him deeply before walking towards him; she flipped her hair and licked her lips while leaning so close that they were nose to nose.

"You are not here… you are not here… you are not here" He closed his eyes, he knew this wasn't her, but couldn't help to move his arm around her waist and pull her closer while tears ran down his face under the starry night "I… couldn't let him have you. I couldn't let him touch you…"

Lucy smiled and brushed her lips against his before pulling away from him "And now you can't have me either, and you will never touch me. You ruined everything and you'll never be able to fix it, because you didn't truly save me from heartache did you?"

His sight turned blurry because of the tears that were nonstop and flooding his eyes "I didn't have a choice Luce!" he cleaned his face with the back of his hand and when he turned she was gone, not even her scent remained.

He kept walking through the plains until it slowly became a forest, he knew this path very well and knew where he would be soon. Natsu decided to play his game with patience so he hid the box in the woods and kept walking without it. He soon faced a large structure, bigger than any tower. The building had always been breathtaking, but then again any structure suspended in the air and surrounded by a number of smaller structures would always be interesting to observe.

As he approached the building more people noticed his presence, it didn't take long before he was surrounded by a big number of knights. They were easily distinguished by their attire, which consisted of long, sleeveless dark robes, over a light shirt with wide sleeves that ended below the elbows; their robes were covered in the front by a light cloth, that had the Council's symbol, a long cape held by a gem around their necks, and a weird looking hat with three tops, a central one and two more at its sides.

"What is your business here?"

"I come to talk to the council, not its lap dogs…"

The one who seemed to be the leader huffed in anger before pointing his weapon at him "You shall not pass this point!"

"Fine" Natsu gestured his with hands mocking the leader "I shall not pass this point. Then you go and let the council know I have information on the disappearance of Fukuro Tatsuma; I'll wait for five minutes and if they don't come I'll leave, and believe me I ain't easy to track…" He crossed his arms above his chest and gave him a cocky smile.

The leader looked at him with disbelieve before whispering to his second in command, who ran inside the building. It didn't take long for two council members to make their way to the open field. The knights took a step back creating an aisle for them to walk through while they looked down with respect.

"Ah, Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail! Your guild said you were on a mission, what brings you here?"

"I was on a mission, heard you were questioning the guild so I decided to take a small detour. I thought it was best to not make the council wait"

"Indeed… what information do you have for us?"

"All of it…"

"Meaning?"

"I'll provide you with the full story, the perpetrator and Mr. Tatsuma himself within the hour, but nothing in this life is free"

"Please, you can't seriously think we are going to fall for this…"

"You can add as many clauses and requirements as you see fit. I only have a couple things to request that are not negotiable"

"Name your price young man, however, please be aware we don't take our contracts lightly…"

"Of course, wouldn't expect less. After I comply, I want the case to be sealed for good; no further investigation on Fairy Tail for this or any past crimes of any of its members, and for every single member that is being held or was going to be held to stop being persecuted. This means a clean slate for the guild, 100%, and I'd like this to be as official as it can…"

Both councilmen turned to discussed this matter; they were a bit confused by the situation since obviously Natsu was one of the main suspects they didn't really think he would come to the council on his own. They decided they would play his game to see where it led.

"If we do this and you don't come back we will go after your guild with everything we have, you understand that?"

"Fine… then as soon as you provide me with proof that this is official, I'll be on my way. Oh one more thing, I want to see the paper and right after I get back it will need to be shipped to Master Makarov as evidence"

The council members walked back laughing, they knew Natsu well and their best guess was that he was trying to get his people out of trouble. They still remembered when he was a bit younger and dressed up as Erza to try to get her out of trial for breaking the rules, which only landed both of them in jail for an extra day. They took some time, but finally came back with a parchment, signed and sealed by the council.

"Read it and then sign below if you agree, be aware this is a binding contract young man"

Natsu read it to the best of his ability, and determined it was safe enough. He signed the paper knowing he was signing away his life, and a certain calm took over; everything was close to being over and despite the mixed feelings he knew this was something he had to do.

"Run along then" the council member signaled with his hand "We'll be waiting for our perpetrator, our full story, and for Mr. Tatsuma" The council member smirked still believing Natsu was playing an angle.

Natsu doubled back into the woods to get the box back from hiding; he had left it in an area that would be hard for most to enter because of the amount and size of the trees and bushes, but for him it was not more than a few jumps through the branches.

He started walking back, his palms were sweaty, as he knew things were coming to an end; he wasn't scared of the council but this still caused some harsh feelings. He was scared only of one thing… how his family would react when they heard about what he did; his dream from the cave kept hunting him whenever he managed to close his eyes; this was still fresh in his mind.

-Flashback-

"I'm back!"

"Why did you come back Natsu?" Gray using his actual name was odd enough, but the way it rolled out of his tongue was as painful as a stab.

"What do you mean why? I live here Ice-Princess"

"You were banned from here! Get it in your head!"

"Wh… you are crazy!" he looked at his shoulder to see his guild mark gone. He looked up and Gray wasn't there anymore. Erza was now standing in front of him.

"How could you? Did you really think we would be happy to take you back?"

"Erza… but I… I did what I had to! You need to understand" He blinked twice and now saw Master Makarov; the look he gave him sent chills down his spine.

"Gramps…"

"I should have left you where I found you. I never thought you would bring such shame to the guild" Makarov turned his back to him, and the guild darkened.

Natsu tried to run after him but wasn't able to catch up. He saw Lucy crying in a corner and ran to her; he tried to hold her hand, and was rejected immediately.

"Just leave! When did you become such a monster!? Because of you they are gone!"

-End of Flashback-

It didn't matter now; he took a deep breath and kept walking until he was facing the suspended building once again. The guards notified the same two council members, which were a bit surprise from his comeback but still made their way to the green open field.

"Well, I see you come alone. What now?"

Natsu released the handle from the box; he kneeled and raised his hands without looking away from the councilmen stares. Both men looked at him still not quite understanding what was happening.

"What are you doing? Do you think this is a joke? You signed a binding paper saying you would bring three things, the perpetrator, a confession and a Mr. Tatsuma!"

"And I held my end of the bargain" He took a deep breath "I Natsu Dragneel am responsible for burning that hideous place to the ground and taking that spoiled rich bastard away. There, you have a confession and a perpetrator"

One of the councilmen had just stopped breathing all along; the other had a large vein pulsing on his forehead and a twitch in his eye "That still leaves the matter of Mr. Tatsuma open. Where is he?"

Natsu raised his brow and shook his head "Really?" he turned his eyes to the side signaling the box, and stared back at the member with one of those -seriously-you-are-stupid- looks. The face of both council members changed from annoyance to fear in less than a second "You and you! Take him out of that box!" he signaled two knights that didn't hesitate to run while the rest of their peers pointed their weapons at the mage.

"Yo…I never said I'd bring him back alive… I don't think that's a good idea… since you know, he's been dead for a few days now. I'm no genius but I think you wouldn't want to do this here" Everyone stopped dead in their tracks; the two knights were not at all happy about opening a box to release the smell of a day's old corpse.

"You! You killed him?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders as if taking importance from it "Yeah, I did"

That was the last he said before the council sent the full force of the knights on him. They were very proud to feel they had defeated such a powerful enemy, however, they missed to notice Natsu didn't fight back; he laid there letting them pull, grab, punch and scratch without moving one single muscle. He was very aware that one movement of his arm would send them back, probably in bad shape; if he wanted he could kill every single one of them.

* * *

POV GAJEEL

It was morning already, not that Gajeel would know since inside the cave there was barely any light, with the exception of a minuscule strip coming from the tunnel that coincidently landed on his face. He turned in annoyance and rubbed his eyes before yawning, which make him notice something different in the environment; it was silent, and there was only a faint smell of Natsu that seemed to be getting colder and colder.

"OI! Salamander?!" He rubbed his face again and got up, and turned to get a full view of the place. His eyes landed on the place where the box was supposed to be; its trail marks had scratched the rocky floor leaving faint white lines. It took another look to notice Natsu's belongings, but when he finally saw what his friend had left behind, it astounded him.

He got closer to find the white scale scarf that Natsu wore every day, neatly folded above his backpack, and below a few pieces of paper; he knew how important that stupid scarf was, it was the single most important thing Natsu owned. It was made out of Igneel's scales and it was the only thing the dragon slayer had to remember his father bye. -Why would you leave this behind?-

Gajeel grabbed the papers and notice they were letters, one for Master Makarov and the guild, one for Lucy and finally one for him. He put the other two down and looked at his name written in that horrible and shaky handwriting that he knew couldn't belong to anyone else but Natsu. He slowly unfolded the paper and started reading.

"Hey Metal-head…

I wanted to thank you for your help, also wanted to apologize for the position I'm about to put you in. I asked you to lie to Lucy, and now I ask you to take my things back to her… you can tell her that's all you found.

Gajeel don't be stupid, don't ever let Levy go, and don't make the same mistakes I did. By the time you read this, it'll be too late, so, don't try to follow, just go home. One more thing… She'll try to come to me, please don't let her; I'm trusting you to keep her safe.

N.D"

Gajeel punched the wall so hard the whole cave trembled under his fist, he was panting and trying to think what to do next, but he knew well he didn't have time; he had to go home now to report back to the master, and to help keep the guild together. He took everything Natsu left behind and carefully place it inside his backpack before making his way back home.

He ran without thinking about exhaustion, he soon realized that even running all the way back it was highly unlikely to make it there the same day. He sighed knowing his best shot was to take the train, although the idea itself made him dizzy; he had to get there fast, so, with limited choices he made it to the nearest town and bought his ticket. It would be about 5 hours of pure horror trying not to barf on it or pass out before he was able to get there; his destination was not the guild, but the town where he knew everyone was being interrogated.

Before boarding the train, he used his lacrima to call Makarov. It wasn't long before the Master greeted him.

"Gajeel, any news?"

"I… I'm on my way back, I'll take the train, and can you tell Lily to meet me at the station?"

Makarov stayed silent noticing Gajeel's voice was a bit softer than usual; the fact that he didn't answer his question didn't go unnoticed. "You're taking the train? Are you alone?"

"I'll be there in about 5 hours, just tell Lily to meet me there. Yes, I'm alone…"

"I see...I'll send Lily your way"

* * *

The whole guild was stationed outside the hospital waiting for Shanna, it was rare for her to be late for her usual grilling, but aside from being curious about it, no one seemed to care. As time went by, they grew more curious about it, it was close to noon already and no one had heard a thing from her.

"Hey Lev…do you think something happened? She was pretty angry yesterday"

"Lu, you worry too much, so, yeah she was angry but I don't think she could do much about it aside from snitching to the council, she has no evidence yet, so, it's highly unlikely"

"Yeah… you are right" Something inside her chest told her things were not ok; she didn't know what it was but it felt as her heart was being dropped from a cliff over and over. The sensation was making her dizzy; she kept rubbing her hands against her tights to remove the nervous cold sweat accumulating.

Makarov felt the general feeling of concern, he was experiencing the same curiosity but remained stoic trying to ease his children "Well, it's already noon and she is not here. Let's go get some lunch, shall we?" most of them nodded "I'll leave a message at the nurse's station just in case"

He went inside the building to inform them where they would be and left. Everyone walked together until the same place they had been using as their meeting point. Laxus of course walked at the front next to his grandfather.

Once they arrived Laxus signaled them to wait and grabbed the door, however this time Mira slapped his hand away and made her way inside before he did; he huffed and shook his head before noticing everyone observing, he was bothered by the looks "What?!" everyone looked away quickly, they knew better than to mess with him at this point. As soon as the cute hostess noticed Mira she flinched and held her breath "Hi! ma'am… what can I do for you today?" Mira's eye twitched but she held her smile "We'll be using the room upstairs again today, same as yesterday, one of each keep the beer coming, ok?" the girl swallowed hard and nodded; she quickly made her way upstairs to get things ready.

"Guys you can come in now" She held the door and let everyone in.

As soon as she was about to cross the door, Laxus grabbed her wrist and pulled her "What the hell are you so mad about?"

Mira rolled her eyes and tried to pull her wrist but he wouldn't budge "Let go…" Laxus pulled harder making her bump against him and grabbed her other wrist "No, you are going to tell me now. I can't handle your fucking psycho attitude anymore, and you are embarrassing me in front of everyone MiraJane"

She kept looking at him with anger, but suddenly she looked to the side and stopped fighting to pull her wrists away "I don't like it when you behave like that, ok?"

Laxus was confused by her comment, he had always behaved the same way "Oh so now you feel the need to protect every woman from me, seriously Mira…" she clenched her fists again; it was a very slight, but Laxus felt as if she pulled closer instead of away, which made him blush a bit.

"I don't… I just don't like it when you pretend to be like that" Mira finally looked up directly at his eyes "You can try to be the worse badass who ever lived you know? But I know that's not you...I just..." she hadn't finished yet when Laxus stopped squeezing her wrists; he moved his hands tracing her arms and landing on her hips.

Mira held her breath for a second just looking at him. They were both startled by the sound of the door after a customer left the restaurant, and that brought Mira back; she pulled away from Laxus and cleared her throat "We should go upstairs"; Laxus nodded in agreement, but as soon as Mira was gone he sighed -What the hell was that?-

* * *

PantherLily was waiting patiently at the train station using his combat form when he saw the train arrive. Soon after he was able to distinguish a dark tumbling shape falling from the train and landing on the floor like a sack of potatoes. Lily rolled his eyes and sighed making his way towards Gajeel.

"Need some help?" he was surprised when Gajeel immediately tried to pull himself together and reached for his hand, which usually wasn't the case "Gajeel, is everything ok?" Gajeel was panting and trying to stand up "Just… take me to the master"

Without further questions, Lily assumed his smaller form and took Gajeel up quickly; he didn't know why he was so upset or why the urgency, but he did know this was important for some reason.

By the time they made it to the restaurant Gajeel was feeling much better and was able to go up the stairs by himself. He kept thinking on what to tell them and how to do it, but as soon as he made his way upstairs, he saw no one was talking; all eyes were on the Master, waiting for him to break the silence.

Bickslow's voice finally interrupted "What does it say? Are they gonna come after us?"

"No… All investigations will be stopped, and Gray will been released"

Cheers erupted on the table, some hugged the person at their side, but the notion that this was finally coming to an end was quickly laid to rest by the master himself "But…" everyone stared back at him trying to contain their smiles.

"That's not all… this parchment is a contract"

"Gramps what does it say?" Laxus knew that face very well, this was the same face his grandfather had when he told him his father had been kicked out of the guild, and was now an enemy. He knew whatever that paper said, it wasn't good"

Makarov cleared his throat, and decided to read the paper aloud.

"On this day, the Magic Council Fiore Branch, will cease to investigate the Fairy Tail Guild and all of its members on any and all crimes against the council and the people from Earthland. This contract includes the release of Gray Fullbuster, and to stop the treason investigation against the Raijinshuu member Bickslow for the attempt to harm the Council's inquisitor along with the possible possession of forbidden magic".

Evergreen stood from her chair "This is wonderful! Bicks!" she hugged him tightly before being interrupted by Laxus "Sit… that's not all, isn't it gramps?" Makarov nodded and took a deep breath before continuing knowing how devastating the next would be.

"This contract is definitive and binding; the commitment made by the council will require the following clauses and requirements to be fulfilled…

The perpetrator will be delivered at the gates of the council's Fiore branch within the hour by the person signing this contract.

The perpetrator will provide a full confession and submit to the council's authority.

Fukuro Tatsuma will be released to the council.

The council will hold full control on the perpetrator's sentence; therefore, a trial will not be needed, however a private hearing will be held as a formality.

If the commitment fails to be completed, the council will have all authority to disown Fairy Tail and remove them from the authorized guild list.

If the above would happen, and Fairy Tail fails to disband, they will be treated as a dark guild and hunted by the council"

Makarov could see the looks of shock on all his children and his chest ached while he tried to continue "My children… This paper has already been signed and sealed by the council...It was sent to us as mere notification… They have apprehended the perpetrator and are now in possession of… Fukuro Tatsuma's remains... " He put the parchment in the middle of the table; there was nothing he could do to protect them.

Everyone started pushing each other to try to read but they were all so eager that no one could actually do it. A certain blue cat took advantage of his wings and small size, and pulled it up from the table, he sat on a wood beam from the ceiling observing everyone jump trying to catch him. He held the paper between his paws before breaking down.

"NO! Natsu!" Everyone stopped at that moment as if time itself had stopped moving when the cat dropped the paper, which started slowly falling following the natural currents of the wind. Carla and Lily immediately spread their wings and made their way towards him; she put her arms around him while Lily awkwardly patted his back, it was no good, he was devastated.

"Happy! It'll be ok"

"No Carla! It will never be ok! They have Natsu! What am I supposed to do now?"

Carla didn't have any words of encouragement; she could only hug him tighter as she had never done before. She couldn't imagine losing Wendy; the thought itself caused tears to run down her face.

The paper was on the table again, only this time no one wanted to touch it; Lucy pushed them aside and grabbed it "No…No...No" She held it up seeing Natsu's signature on the paper "No...NO!" She took a few steps back and lost her balance; before falling; Loke appeared out of nowhere and held her while he let her fall on top of him on the floor.

"Lucy! What's happening I could feel something was wrong!" He tried holding her but she kept slapping him away and crying her eyes out. He looked up and saw everyone's face, some crying, some holding their tears back; he heard Happy crying and looked up to see the other exceeds trying to console him. -Oh no…-

Finally, Lucy stopped slapping him and put her arms around his neck to keep crying. He saw the paper laying in front of Lucy and extended his arm. He read it all the way to the end and his eyes flickered; he wrapped his arms around Lucy and allowed her cry on top of him for the following hour.

"Lushy…" Happy still had tears on his face but flew right up to her; she grabbed him with both hands and pressed him against her chest.

Throughout this, Gajeel had stayed on the same spot; he decided there was no better time than now. "I need to say something…" Loke gave him a disapproving look "I think right now is not the time, we have more important matters to attend"

"Bunn...Lucy…" it may have been the habit, or the fact that it was a rare occasion for Gajeel to call her by her real name but she looked up with Happy still curled on her chest. He opened his backpack and clenched his jaw before getting Natsu's scarf and laying it on the table along with the letters.

She pushed Loke aside and tumbled her way to the table; she grabbed his scarf so hard to her chest that it seemed as if she wanted to fuse with it "Where did you find this?"

"I…" -say you found his things...say he wasn't there… say you didn't see him…- Gajeel wanted to follow Natsu's directions, he wanted to be off the hook for this, but before he put his words together his mouth betrayed him "I was with him…" His own words startled him; he looked at her eyes, which were now filled with rage and fire. Lucy laid her hands on the table and got on top of it before jumping Gajeel, causing him to fall back.

"You were with him!" she started to punch whatever she could; even Elfman tried to wrap his arms around her waist to contain her and fell victim to Lucy's elbow on his face.

"I was going to bring him back! I tried!"

"You didn't try hard enough!" She kept punching and pushing him back. He knew he could easily overpower her, but wasn't planning on hurting her more than what she was hurting already.

"I'm sorry…" Gajeel covered his face with his arms, and noticed she had stopped punching him. He looked up and saw she was still staring at him but there was no more fire in her eyes, just emptiness. She rolled herself and fell on the ground laying in fetal position releasing the most painful scream and tearing everyone's heart apart.

He composed himself and sat up before looking at her again, she looked like a broken doll "I'm sorry…" She sat up still sobbing, and cleaned her face before making her way to the table and wrapping Natsu's scarf around her neck before burying her face in it.

Gajeel sat in front of her and pushed the letter in front of her again, she hadn't notice it was there; then he took the letter intended for the master and pushed it his way "When I woke up he had left these behind for you… it was too late for me to go after him…"

"Did you know what he was going to do?" She asked with a mix of pain and anger on her voice. "Of course I didn't! He said he was coming home with me"

Lucy nodded and stretched her shaky hand to grab the letter when Loke stopped her "Maybe you shouldn't… not now" she slapped his hand away and grabbed the letter, slowly unfolding it; she took a deep breath and convinced herself she needed to know.

"Luce,

I hope one day you can forgive me for hurting you so much; don't be sad. I finished what I had to do and I'm at peace with it. Juvia will take care of Gray once he is out, I know he'll be angry at me, please let him… It'll be easier for him to deal if he hates me a bit.

I have so many things to tell you, but I don't have much time. I want you to be happy, to go on adventures as if nothing had changed. You are so strong Luce; you don't even know how strong you are… I always thought eventually I'd build enough courage to tell you how much you mean to me, but the moment has come and gone, and now it won't make a difference.

It's selfish of me to tell you now, but I've decided to take no regrets with me; I never understood why my heart would be calm when you were around, or even why I started missing to the smell of vanilla when you weren't, I guess it reminded me of you… I love you so much that my heart felt like exploding every time you cried for something I did. I can't handle the thought of you crying now, please don't do it… Be happy and find someone who's worth it, I never was.

Please take care of Happy for me, tell him I'm sorry…I'll always think of you Luce.

Natsu"

She sat there with a blank stare, her friends were really trying not to stare but it was somewhat hard. They all knew the paper she held was a letter from him and due to the recent developments, they were unsure about what would happen.

Her face was unreadable, sad eyes, angry mouth, panting… "Son of a bitch!" they were startled by her sudden outburst "Who does he think he is? He has no right!" Some showed confusion, some were a bit scared by the volatile blonde; even Happy had stopped crying and was staring at her a bit alarmed.

"Lushy? What did he write?" The small blue cat rubbed his eyes and sniffed. Lucy looked at Happy and bit her lip "That idiot! He loves me? And he chooses now to tell me! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" she had definitely forgot that the entire guild was there, which caused a moment of awkward silence that went unnoticed by her.

Happy looked a bit less confused "Oh that…" she stared at him with an angry inquisitive look "Oh that? OH THAT?" she pointed her finger at him and poked his nose "you knew?!" Happy shook his head and raised his paws "Oh Lushy, you're so stupid… I've been telling you he loves you for years now, why are you so surprised?" her brow was raised so high it would have gotten tangled in her hair if that was even possible, she turned around and started pacing on the room and mumbling something to herself.

Gajeel just observed the whole thing and blinked before remembering the second letter "Master? I'm assuming the perfect-timing-fire-dragon didn't tell you the same, hopefully"

Makarov rolled his eyes at him; it was obvious Gajeel was trying to get rid of the tension in the room "Of course he didn't… Along with some personal things to me he also left clear instructions for me to let things be"

Lisanna stood up punching the table and throwing her chair back "So he wants us to let him rot there! Fantastic!" Elfman grabbed her shoulder "Lisanna, he is being a man!" she gave him a deadly stare and pointed at him "Oh yeah? How much of a man will you, or any of us be if we let him die there?" Lisanna kept staring at him when Mira stood by her side with a determined look "Well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wouldn't feel…" she raised her hands and did air quotes "Like a man, if I let him take the fault after saving my sister, would you?"

Most of the members present nodded, sharing the same determination as the Strauss sisters. Makarov intervened "There are several outcomes since it will be up to the council without a trial; he will either be held for life, or he'll receive a death sentence. What are you kids planning to do? Go up against the council, they will declare us a dark guild, is that what you want?!"

Lucy stopped pacing around the room and stared directly at him pointing her finger "I don't care! I don't care if they threaten me, if they force me to erase my guild mark or throw me in jail for life! I don't give a shit if they think we are a dark guild! Fairy Tail is more than its name and it's symbol, Fairy Tail is family! And I'll be damned if I let them take my family away from me!"

Makarov smiled "My sentiments exactly my dear" more than a few people stared at him in amazement "We are a family and we leave no one behind! Now, no one will be forced to participate, this will be a crazy, irresponsible, a very -Natsu-style- mission. Whoever doesn't want to be involved should go back home right now!"

Laxus laughed and shook his head, he finally understood his old man still had a few surprises to show "Well, if this is a Natsu-style mission then I guess we better get fired up" Happy flew on top of the table and fisted his paw "AYE SIR!".

Despite the danger of this mission no one left, they all knew this was go big or go home. Despite of the amount of energy and determination exuding from the room, Lucy knew better than to trust adrenaline.

"Lev! We need to do this in a smart way. Are you up for the task?"

"Hell yeah! I'll hit the library and find anything involving the council and their rules"

"Perfect, we need to be fast so meet us here before the end of the day"

* * *

Natsu didn't fight it. He stayed still with his hands up and kneeling on the floor and allowed the knights to wrap the magic cuffs around his wrists; he didn't bother to pull or push when he kept being shoved by them or even when they "accidentally" threw him on the floor.

Now, you may be thinking this is incredibly unlike Natsu, and that he would never go down without a fight. His weak and lost mind told him this was the best way to do it. He was taking the danger away from the people he loved, and he knew he was capable of taking whatever torture they threw his way and more importantly, if the council continued to investigate the only home some of his friends had ever known, would be lost. He knew they were all strong, physically capable, the best of the best; however, emotionally... most of them had been broken for a long time and that building, the name, and the people were the glue holding everything together.

He was led to an underground jail cell, he figured it was well below the ground since the smell from the outside didn't reach him at all; the guard had locked him inside a cell in and turned around.

* * *

As soon as Natsu was taken, the two council members decided the box had to be opened, they couldn't hold their end of the deal under a suspicion; they were not excited about what came next so they ordered the knights to do it while they stood at a safe distance from the box.

One of the knights inspected the box, walked around it and kneeled down a couple of times before commenting.

"It's not going to be easy to open, this is sealed"

Both councilmen rolled their eyes and huffed in annoyance, almost as if they'd practice doing it at the same time, "Get a crowbar, a blowtorch! I don't care, I want that open in the next 10 minutes, do you understand?!"

The Knights ran as if the devil was chasing them, some even bumped with each other while they rushed to find the proper tools. It didn't take long for them to come back with two crowbars, two hammers, and a blowtorch; despite having the proper tools, opening the box proved to be a hard task. The knights in charge were getting tired already.

"Man what did they use to seal this?"

"I'm not sure but...Is it just me or do these marks look like hands and fingers?"

"Are you saying he melted this with his hands? This looks like very hard steel… or something"

"Now that you mention it… it's darker than most, even in alloys, not sure exactly what it is"

After struggling with chest for a couple of hours and calling reinforcements to stand on the crowbars, they were finally able to open it.

Before the box was fully open their brains went wild thinking about a box filled with the stench of body fluids, and a bloated unrecognizable body twisted in all possible ways; they could imagine the eyes popping out of his sockets, and his tongue hanging outside covered by a sticky substance.

They rushed to cover their mouths and noses as soon as the lid came off to avoid the stench, but it didn't smell that much; they turned to look inside, and discover the reason. The body was so dry that it looked like an old mummy; even the eyes had reduced their size and were way back inside the sockets, his mouth was open so wide that it seemed he had screamed until his last breath.

"What the hell?"

"This… how did this even happen?"

"This is the work of a demon for sure…"

They were half right, the work of a demon it was, but not the one they were thinking of. In the knight's mind, Natsu was the demon who had cursed the poor aristocrat to take his fiancée; the two councilmen certainly milked that thought and caused fear among the rest.

Soon after, the councilmen decided to call a man the knights knew well; Arlo the executioner would be in charge of giving Natsu a warm welcome, they were not planning to kill him yet since they knew their contract was binding, but that didn't mean a little punishment wouldn't be served before the council's audience.

Arlo was more a mountain that a man, bigger and wider than Elfman even; his face was full of scars but only a few were visible since he covered the bottom half of his face with a dark mask; his raven color hair was up in spikes framing his features. His eyes were as dark as his hair, deep but empty and cold.

Natsu's cell was similar to Gray's with the difference that he has given less freedom. He kept thinking on how much the tables have turned now that he was chained with his hands above his head and hanging from the ceiling, his feet were chained to the floor leaving him in a suspended state right in the middle.

Arlo walked in and they stared at each other for a few seconds before making proper introductions.

"I'm Arlo"

"I'd say nice to meet you but I'm no liar, maybe under different circumstances?"

"So, the demon speaks… Very well… Speak…" He crossed his arms and smirked signaling him to continue. Natsu smirked back and opened his mouth but the words didn't come out which startled him a little.

"What? Nothing else so say? Well there's no fun in that…" He waved his hand and suddenly Natsu felt something releasing his voice "What the hell?..."

"You are a Dragon Slayer right? I heard… your senses are very sensitive, which one would you miss the most?"

"Wait, what are you doing?" It started as a small ringing in his ears, but it kept increasing little by little until it was a high pitch sound drilling his eardrums so hard that blood started to come out of them. He didn't notice he was screaming out of pain, at this point he couldn't hear himself anymore. This is the same scream that Gray heard while being released.

* * *

Gray stood up growling as he got up; the pain in his ribs was still bothering him. He was crossing the place that was surrounded by the many cells he'd seen before; he could still hear the water drops falling on the floor and the faint screaming, but there was something familiar about it this time – Natsu?-

"Oi! Wait a minute! Where is that coming from?"

"Move it kid!"

"No! Wait a second. NATSU?!"

Gray still had the magic blocking cuffs on his wrists, he was tired and hurt, so, when the jailor sank his elbow into his ribs he immediately fell on his knees.

"Don't make this harder on yourself kid"

The blow took the air out of his lungs and he was more than sure that aside from the bruise he now had a few broken ribs "He is back there; I need to…Damn it… Natsu…" He could barely gather enough air to speak. He felt something hitting his temple and then it all went dark.

He woke up a few hours later, his eyes were still closed, but he felt a hand combing his hair and caressing his temple "Juvia?"

"Welcome back Gray" The bluenette was smiling at him but there was a sadness in her eyes; she leaned over and kissed his forehead.

"Where are we?"

"We came for you, we are in Crocus now…"

"Crocus? Wait…Natsu! Where is he!?" Gray sat up quickly before a sharp pain reminded him of his ribs; he grabbed his side and frowned as more questions and concerns filled his mind.

"I'll bring the Master" He knew it would be bad; Juvia would never avoid a question he made. When Makarov came inside the room, he was immediately bombarded with question after question.

"Where is he? Is he ok? What happened? How long have I been out?"

"He is with the council"

"So, I didn't imagine it…"

"What do you mean?"

"I heard him… screaming. I don't think I've ever heard him scream from pain, not like that"

"Gray… a lot has happened" He tried to explain in detail all events after he was taken, from the Bickslow incident, to Gajeel and Lucy, to the letters and the parchment sent by the council. Gray was left looking dumbfounded for a few minutes and suddenly that look changed to anger "THAT STUPID FIRE BREATHING ASSHOLE!"

"Gray calm down, look we…"

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? He put himself on a golden platter for the council! He should have… We could have…" His hands were clenching the sheet around him as his eyes watered when he fell into the Master's hand holding his.

"I know… but we will fix it, together as we usually do. For that I need you back on your feet so Wendy will come in a little bit" Gray nodded, still clenching the sheet and biting his lip.

* * *

Makarov left the room and turned left to go into the next one where most of his children were still developing the correct strategy.

"By the sound of it, he didn't take this well did he?"

"He took it as well as any of us would Erza. We need to hurry, the private audience is tomorrow, have you kids figured out a plan?"

Lucy jumped from her seat with confidence; she fisted one hand and punch her palm reminding the master that while Natsu was not there, his spirit and energy lingered.

"We've got a plan alright!"

"Lucy dear… Am I going to be happy with this?"

She looked up and rubbed her chin "Well…have you ever been happy with any of Natsu's plans?"

"Not that I recall…" He raised his eyebrow with concern. If this plan was anything like any of Natsu's then he could expect nothing but reckless endangerment and destruction.

Lucy's grin widened, and in her eyes, there was fire, one that the master recognized as determination "Then you are in for a ride! The council won't know what hit them" her smile became cocky before she continued; "We're all fired up now. Tomorrow morning is go time!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi again! So little update, Chapter 1 has been rewritten, the base story is the same, so, I just added more details, background and dialogue. I like the story as it is so I didn't make huge changes but if you are interested in the rest of the details, it's now available. I saw a couple of new people following and favoring the story Thanks Guys! Please R &R and send your suggestions. **

**On another note: I apologize for uploading late, I had a minor accident when a bit of the elixir of life (coffee…of course coffee) fell on my keyboard so I had to make sure it was good before continuing.**

 **Also, this chapter contains mostly 2 things... Pain on one end, and so much sweetness that I'm staying away from sugar for a couple of days, so fair warning XD**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **The man who promises everything is sure to fulfill nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition.**

 **\- Carl Jung -**

* * *

The sounds came back slowly along with a leftover ringing in his ears, with the anti-magic cuffs, his healing was slower than usual too, but he didn't care; this is what he had to do to get his friends out of the situation, and he was well aware this had been his decision. He raised his eyes to meet Arlo, who was leaning against the wall looking bored.

"So, you finally came back; I was starting to lose interest"

"What did you do?"

Arlo smirked at him without responding to his question "Are you ready?"

Natsu knew something was going to hurt, he didn't know what, but he clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. The place where his hands and feet were restrained started itching, then aching; he suddenly felt as if someone was pulling his joints apart, and grunted. He opened his eyes and looked around, but Arlo was still leaning on the wall.

He was confused by the sensation; he was a Goddamn Dragon Slayer, he ate fire, spat fire, and he could make his body burst into flames, but he recognized the sensation on his skin was similar to the one caused by fire, which is why he was dumbfounded by the burning pain. He soon started wondering if this is what people felt when he burned them. The image of him firing his claw to burn Fukuro's wound, and ripping his skin apart from the wall found its way into his mind and filled him with regret.

"What the hell…"Natsu observed as Arlo started walking slowly towards him "What do you think of my magic? I don't really have to touch you to cause you pain, but it is always more fun when I do…" Arlo lifted one finger and he laid it on Natsu's collarbone. He didn't understand why it hurt so much, it was just a finger, it was just resting on him; Arlo started pushing his finger harder causing him to gasp in pain. The burning sensation on his skin was back, mixed with the feeling of broken bones.

"This will give a whole new meaning to "heighten senses" don't you think?" He removed his finger and punched Natsu in the stomach causing him to release all the air from his lungs.

"Did you know the largest organ in the body is the skin? It's interesting really, we scrape, cut, and hurt our skin all the time, and it doesn't bother that much does it? But… if you heighten touch…"

Natsu suddenly understood why at first he couldn't speak; it was actually him not being able to hear himself, why his ears were in pain, and why his body ached "What are you playing at? I gave the council everything I had"

"So you thought that they were just gonna throw you in jail? Or maybe kill you mercifully? Damn you kids are naive…" Arlo moved to Natsu's side, and grabbed his jaw pushing his nails to the skin; this sent a new wave of pain, but he didn't make a sound "Oh, we have a tough one, let's play a bit more then"

* * *

Gray was lying in bed looking at the ceiling; he was feeling much better after Wendy healed him, but something felt terribly wrong within. The door creaked, he heard the footsteps getting closer to his bed, but he didn't turn to see who it was; it wasn't until she was next to the bed that he glanced at her midnight blue eyes and her shy smile.

"Hey Juvia"

"How is Gray feeling?"

"I'm fine…"

"Hmm, ok, but how is Gray reaaally feeling?"

"Cut the crap Juvia, I said I'm fine…" He regretted the words instantly when he noticed she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Juvia thought we agreed Gray wouldn't do that anymore…"

"And what am I doing?"

"Lying to Juvia… Gray is compartmentalizing again"

Gray took a deep breath, he always fell into the habit of hiding his internal struggle, and that was something the people closest to him knew well "I'm sorry…" Juvia brushed the hair from his face before lying on the bed next to him; she brushed her finger on his bare chest above his heart; this was something she did often, it was like a secret code for them.

He felt her hand on his chest suddenly making things a bit better, he thought about how far they had come from the time where he would run away from her and when she acted completely crazy. He never thought he could be happy with her, and he wished he had come around sooner.

When they first started discovering their relationship, right after the incident with Ansel, Gray continued to be aloof while she kept creeping on him at every corner. It was almost comical for him that the person who kept bringing him back to reality was none other than the one he fought with the most. That was the time where Juvia learned to call his BS.

-Flashback-

Gray was leaning on the bar talking to the guys and having a drink when Juvia launched herself towards him and grabbed him by the waist.

"Gray-Sama! Juvia missed you!"

"Oi! Get off me!"

"Juvia found Gray-sama's shirt on the floor"

"Juvia…"

"Juvia thought today was a nice day to go on a date!"

"Ju…"

"How about Juvia takes Gray-Sama out for dinner" Gray noted the guys while laughing; he blushed and slammed his hand on the table.

"Juvia! Stop! Leave me alone ok?!"

She widen her eyes, and nodded "Juvia is sorry!" She turned on her heel and left to sit on a table where Lucy and Levy were talking. She immediately grabbed Lucy's arm and rested her forehead on her shoulder while Lucy gave Gray an angry stare.

"Oi, Ice Princess! Stop being such a dick to her…"

"Shut up Flame for brains… "The rest of the guys just observed the interaction a bit surprised by Natsu's reaction. Of course, by this point, Natsu's nightmares were already haunting his dreams, every night he would see himself tearing Lucy apart ignoring her screams and tears. So, the sight of his friend emotionally hurting someone he clearly cared for, rubbed him the wrong way.

"No, I won't, so you can either listen or walk away like a coward" The guys stiffen at his comment, they weren't used to him being serious, which made them feel bad for laughing at Gray's interaction with Juvia.

"Look, you can play tough all you want, but seriously, have you ever thought about why she puts up with your shit? Has she ever talked back to you when you're being an idiot? NO, she hasn't. Have you ever considered that you are creating more and more damage to her, and she just takes it without saying a thing?"

"I…"

"You what? You feel the need of being an idiot because we are here? That's a dumb excuse even for someone whose brain is frozen dead…"

"Oi! You want a piece of me Pyro?!"

"I'll take that any day of the week Stripper! But right know you are using this as yet another excuse to not face your own shit…"

The guys were so uncomfortable at this point that they had slowly started retreating to another table to leave the interaction. Gray hissed through his teeth and walked to the girls table with his hands inside his pockets… "Juvia…let's go…"

She still had tears in her eyes but smiled and nodded anyways; they crossed the guild doors and walked for a while, she kept her distance, always behind him. Natsu's words kept resonating in his mind when he noticed he was practically walking alone.

"Hey, why are you over there?"

"Juvia is giving Gray space"

He sighed, "Come here… walk with me ok?"

She gave him a big smile that resembled a kid receiving a huge Christmas present; after a few moments of silence he decided to start a conversation, "Hey, I need to ask you something…" She stared at him for a couple of seconds and nodded.

"Why don't you get angry at me?"

"Why would Juvia be angry at Gray?"

"Well… sometimes I… uhm" the voice of Natsu calling him a coward resonated in his head, he knew this was not going to be simple and that things would never change unless he did something different "sometimes I act like an idiot… and I'm mean, and I yell at you. You shouldn't stay quiet about it"

"Juvia doesn't mind… Juvia hasn't had a lot of people being nice to her, except for Gajeel" The idea of Gajeel being the nicest person Juvia had met kind of gave him an idea of what Natsu referred to, she didn't know better.

"What about your family?"

"Juvia has no family; Fairy Tail is Juvia's family now. Before, Juvia wasn't very liked by people since she brought rain with her"

He felt a pinch in his heart, she was as alone as a child, she was like him with the difference that he soon found shelter in a place where he was loved. He noticed he was doing the same that people had done to her over her life.

"Juvia… it's not ok for me to treat you like that, and sometimes I don't notice it. I'll try to change it but I need you to face me when it happens"

"But, wouldn't that make Gray angry at Juvia?"

"It's fine… Juvia, couples argue all the time, that doesn't mean they will leave each other" He froze immediately after finishing those words.

"Co… couple? Are Gray and Juvia a couple now?" He rubbed the back of his head and blushed "Yeah… I thought… I mean yeah…" He shook his head and continued before losing his train of thought, "Look, I'm bad at sharing ok? So you need to tell me when I'm acting like an idiot"

She nodded in agreement "And Gray won't leave Juvia because of that?" He smiled and grabbed her index finger bringing it above his heart and drawing a cross "Cross my heart" She laid her hand on his chest and they stayed in silence until he pulled her closer and gave her a chaste kiss, then he cleared his throat and looked around to make sure no one was watching.

-End of Flashback -

"Tell Juvia…"

"I'm fucking mad at him, he is a complete idiot, and as usual he got himself in trouble because of course! Flame for brains can't take one minute to consider his actions can he?" he frowned before turning his face to the wall on his right "How could he do this? Can you believe how much an idiot he was?"

Juvia listened to him patiently, occasionally nodding, and allowed him to vent, "If we get him back I'm going to give him the beating of a lifetime!" Gray suddenly stopped and held his breath "If… we…" Juvia got on her elbow and grabbed Gray's face turning him towards her; she noticed tears running down his face.

"WHEN we get him back, not IF"

"What if he is too far gone?..."

"Then we'll bring him back, that's what Fairy Tail does best" She gave him a warm smile and rubbed her thumb on his cheek removing the tears "You've done this, you did it with Juvia, Gajeel, Laxus, and Natsu before"

Gray remembered every single time someone drifted away; the images flooded his head; Laxus' return to the guild after his almost killing spree, Gajeel and Juvia becoming part of the guild after almost destroying it, and Lucy risking her life to rewrite Natsu's book to keep him anchored; this is what they did, the family was never left behind.

Gray pulled Juvia's face closer to him and closed the gap between their lips with a sweet and deep kiss, he pulled away to look at her; this was the woman that had melted the ice shell of his heart with more than just determination, "I love you so much…" Juvia narrowed her eyes and smiled again, "Not as much as Juvia does"

She closed the gap again to kiss him; Gray brushed his tongue against her lower lip causing her to open her mouth, and he took advantage of it to deepen the kiss by caressing every inch and exploring it with his tongue. He placed his hands on her waist pulling her on top of him, and fisted his hand on her hair while his other rested on the small of her back.

Her long skirt curled all the way to her tights; thankfully, it was open on both sides, which allowed her to keep each leg on each side of his body. Their bodies responded to the closeness immediately; Juvia let a small moan escape her mouth, that Gray swallowed completely with a kiss making her body shiver.

"Ahem…sorry for the interruption guys, the door was open; we have important matters to discuss" Juvia sat up and got off Gray so fast that she almost fell off the bed.

"Ahem… Hi Mira…"

Mira smiled, and put her hands together "You guys are going to have the cutest babies!"

"babies-babies-babies-babies" Juvia's eyes were spinning, her face was as red as Erza's hair, and you could almost see the steam coming from her ears.

"Oh well! We'll wait for you guys next door"

"Oi! Mira!" Before Gray could ask her to keep this incident quiet, she was gone; he was well aware that even if he asked the possibilities were slim to none anyways.

* * *

"What to do, what to do… Should we take a sense away or make it as sharp as we can? So many choices…"

"Is that all you've got? Kind of lame for an executioner… Fukuro did a better job on me than that, and he was a piece of shit…"

Arlo laughed maniacally "You have a big mouth kid, let's see if we can make it smaller shall we?" He took a short, thin knife from his belt and kneeled on Natsu's left side looking right at his ribcage.

"Now, I'll ask you not to move until I'm done, you wouldn't like for me to pierce your lung would you?" Natsu could feel the knife piercing his skin and cutting it like butter; he bit his lip to drown his voice, and he just left a whimper out from time to time.

With Arlo heightening his sense of touch, the knife felt like cutting through his body completely; if he didn't know better, he would say he was cutting through muscle to remove his left lung, and pulling his ribs out with his bare hands.

Arlo took his time tracing the design of the Ankh-like symbol with the tip of his sharp knife; it started on his fifth rib in the space where his arm would usually fall, and ended all the way down to his tenth rib. After slowly and carefully tracing it, he them proceeded with the painful process of "filling the insides" of the drawing; he switched the position of the knife with its edge facing down and started removing the large skin patch within.

Natsu tried to swallow the pain, but he was at his weakest point and feeling skin being pulled from his body while his senses were heightened was not something easy to handle; he clenched his jaw and his fists, which were still being held above his head. Fukuro invaded his mind again –at least I was quick when I ripped him from the wall- his thought didn't make him feel better.

By the time Arlo was done, Natsu had the council's bloody symbol carved on him, his blood was dripping from his left side drenching his white pants and tainting them red.

* * *

Lucy was looking at the map on the table listening to Levy when she felt a sharp pain at her side, which caused her to flinch; she took a deep breath, and got the scent of Natsu from the scarf she wrapped around her neck.

"Lu-chan, are you ok?"

"I am… I just… something feels wrong…"

"With the plan?"

"No, no… the plan is good. I have a weird feeling something is wrong with Natsu… it's silly right?"

"It's probably just your nerves Lu-chan"

Gajeel was carefully observing their interaction from a distance, since he came back he had kept away from Lucy; he knew she was forgiving, but was still mad at him, which he was ok with, after all he was mad at himself too.

He decided it was about time for him to suck it up and join the conversation; as soon as he got closer; Lucy looked at him and hissed through her teeth "I'm taking a break Levy, you got this covered right?"

Levy sighed and tilted her head "Of course…" She watched Lucy turn on her heel and head to the door without giving Gajeel a second glance.

"How long do you think it will take for her to get over it?"

"Stupid Gajeel… She doesn't blame you… she just needs somewhere to put her anger"

"I guess I'm the best choice then"

"Sadly yeah…Come here…" He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head while she nuzzled his chest. "It'll be ok, she is just nervous"

"Shrimp, I don't think that's it…"

Levy took her head away from his chest and looked at him with confusion "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it, but if she says there's something wrong with Natsu, then she is probably right"

"Am… ok… how?"

"It's hard to explain…you know how your magic is attached to your life, and you can feel it running in your veins"

"Sure"

"Ok well, when a dragon chooses a partner, even without knowing… his heart tangles its energy to that partner, but this only happens when that partner has chosen the dragon too, genuinely and at heart"

"So what does that mean?"

"It's a very strong bond, so if she has chosen Natsu as her partner at heart, this could mean she can sense him. I know for a fact Natsu loves her…"

"So, that would mean she loves him too, I mean I guess we all know it, but they've never talked about it or acted on it"

"Yeah… which is actually lucky"

"Ok you lost me again, why would it be lucky for them not to admit they love each other?"

"Not that shrimp… if they had solidified their bond then she could be at risk if something happened to him"

Levy was going to continue inquiring about Lucy and Natsu, but her head was now filled with more questions about her and Gajeel "So, were you ever planning to discuss this information with your girlfriend? Wait, actually we never really defined what we are" She blushed.

"Gee Shrimp…Was I supposed to discuss this before you decided to jump on me?" He gave her a cocky smile. Levy puffed her cheeks and rolled her eyes in annoyance

"Well, I'M SO SORRY I assaulted your innocent self… stupid Gajeel"

He laughed and pulled her into a hug, she resisted, and punched his chest at first, but then she settled into it "We haven't gone as far as to put you in danger Shrimp, I'd never let that happen unless you are fully aware, and make the choice to be with me forever"

"So, does that mean that you have decided to be with me forever then?"

"Of course, we'll be whatever you want us to be shrimp… I…Love you, you know that"

"I love you too"

Gajeel was too into the moment, so, he didn't noticed the familiar scent of a new person entering the room "Aw that's very sweet Gajeel…Who would have known you were such a softy" Gray laughed so hard that he had to hold himself at the door.

"You are one to talk, since you know… you can't seem to close the door before your private make out sessions with rain woman"

"Dammit! MiraJane!"

Both mages bumped heads, and started arguing when Erza pulled them by the neck and bumped their heads together "Could you please focus on the task ahead of us?"

"Aye… we are sorry Erza"

"It's fine, Lucy and I have made contact with our allies. Most of them agreed with our plan, they'll support, but we can't expect them to fight. So, we are good to go for tomorrow and I'm expecting you to be on your BEST behavior, is that clear?" Gray and Gajeel nodded in agreement, this was no time to play around.

* * *

Laxus was outside of the inn smoking a cigar when Mira bumped into him. She looked at him and opened her mouth to say something, but then she looked away and continued walking forward.

"Where are you going MiraJane?"

"I needed some fresh air…"

Laxus scratched his chin with his index finger "Well t'is not a good time for you to go out by yourself".

They walked together to the main park; it was full of leafless trees since the winter season hadn't come to an end yet. There were a few kids running around wearing jackets and hats, laughing with their friends and enjoying their time.

Mira looked ahead and found a gorgeous white gazebo with gray colored roof; she went up the small steps and sat on the banister crossing her legs, while Laxus went to the other end and rested his back on one of the pillars.

"Do you remember when we were that young?" Mira was still observing the kids running around.

"It was so long ago Mira"

"Was it really? I still remember you cried about everything"

"I did not!"

"Of course you did" She laughed and covered her mouth with her hand, but soon her smile faded "I also remember you used to get sick a lot"

"Yeah… I remember that…"

"And then one day you were better, and you… changed" She shook her head and looked at him, "Look I'm sorry, I have no right to mess with your life choices ok? It's none of my business… I guess I just remember that kid fondly… the one that was sweet, and caring; but you're all grown up now"

"So, you liked me better when I was sick all the time MiraJane?"

"No… I liked you better when you were not trying to prove to everyone that you were better than them, and when your feelings were visible to the people that cared for you"

Laxus hissed through his teeth; there was something in those words that disturbed him deeply. Mira got off the banister and smiled at him, but the smile didn't reach her eyes "I've had enough air, I'm going back now" Laxus just nodded and walked next to her.

Right before they got inside he turned "Hey Mira… You changed too, you know?"

"So did you like "The Demon" better?"

"Nah… there's plenty to like now" He gave her a crooked smile, and she giggled before going back inside.

Arlo started walking around Natsu like a vulture, observing his work and thinking on how to improve it, the wound was still fresh and oozing blood, but not as much as before. He stopped behind Natsu and fisted his hair; he pushed his head so he was looking down before continuing with his bloody artwork. He pressed his knife to Natsu's back below his nape, which caused him to pull back, however with his body being suspended between ceiling and floor, he didn't have much space to run.

He could feel the knife cutting through his skin again, slowly digging into him. This continued for some time, although he wasn't sure how long it had been; Arlo had carved something below his nape.

"I think the words suits you… traitor"

"Yeah? Well, if I had ever decided to get some ink work done, I would have probably picked a better artist"

"You don't learn kid… keep the big mouth going, let's see how far it gets you. You are pathetic and weak" Natsu laughed in a painful way "If I fought back, you would be burned to a crisp already"

"Wow, big boy with big words...scary"

Natsu scrunched his nose and shook his head as the terrible stench from the cell block flooded his nostrils, it grew bigger making him shrug. He could smell his own blood and sweat along with the other few prisoners there, he could sense the smell of old dry blood, corpses, urine; everything that had been there for years, and it made his stomach clench.

"I can't think of what this place really smells like… You Dragon slayers have a pretty good sense of smell, don't you?"

Natsu was trying his best to contain himself but couldn't avoid barfing as all smells mixed together, and hit him as it they were inside his nose. He was doing his best to breathe through his mouth when suddenly, he started tasting those smells though his tongue "Yeah… not gonna work kid...did you know that taste and smell use the same type of receptors? Sucks, doesn't it?"

A second wave of dizziness hit him bad causing him to barf again. There was no way around it, he could smell and taste everything, and not breathing at all wasn't a choice.

Arlo kneeled behind him, and grabbed his leg to hold him before stabbing his lower back causing Natsu to arch in pain "Ups, sorry that was a bit too deep…" The scent of his own blood was overwhelming enough, but now he could also taste the metal blade on his skin as if it was in his mouth. He felt the pain again as Arlo carved a second word on him.

The dark stone cell had no light of its own, the only thing keeping visibility were a few lacrimas. Natsu could clearly see what came next when he started feeling the room filling with light. It wasn't really that the lacrimas were brighter, but he still felt the room shining more by the second to the point where he had to close his eyes to avoid the brightness.

Arlo laughed as he stood behind Natsu to force his eyelids open with his own fingers. With all his five senses heighten, it was hard for him to concentrate, his eyes just saw white everywhere. He could hear every single breath being taken, in the whole cell block, he could smell and taste the stench, and his skin felt like being burned by a painful and unforgiving flame.

Calm came when suddenly all his senses shut down, except for his hearing

"We are done for today, you did good kid, I thought you would have lost it by now. For now I will leave you alone with your thoughts" a small laugh made its way to Natsu's ears and then nothing… his hearing was gone too.

Although at first it felt as if it was the best of the bad options he soon realized being left alone with his thoughts was by far the worse punishment for him, and he found himself wishing Arlo would come back to torture him more.

His mind ran wild going over the latest events, Lucy, Fukuro, the incident at the manor, Gajeel; so many things, so many regrets. It soon became obvious that this calmness was torture, there was nothing to distract him from the thought, at least with the pain he was focused on something else.

It felt like he was floating away in the emptiness of a dark room, nothing to see, smell, hear, feel; his mind drifted further away, and he wondered to the darkest corners of his mind. The image of Igneel came to him, and he could hear his voice inside himself, it was a weird feeling since he knew his hearing didn't work but this sound didn't really come from the outside.

"Igneel… you are not here"

"But I'm always here"

"No, you are dead, I saw you die"

"I never said I wasn't dead"

"Then why are you here"

"You've given up. I felt the fire I left you extinguishing"

"There's no other way, this is something I have to do"

"So, you consider this sacrifice will fix what is broken?"

"Give me a break, don't be such a hypocrite… you shouldn't criticize my sacrifice to protect the people I love"

"I do understand, I did the ultimate sacrifice to protect you, and I would do it again; but look where it got us…"

"I have no other choice"

"My boy… there's always a choice"

"It's easy for you to say… you took the choice for both of us every single time. You decided to leave without saying a thing, you decided to leave me alone and clueless, and then you decided to come back to die!"

"And I'm sorry, but I did what I thought was best for you"

"And so did I… I did what I thought was best for my family"

"If there's something I can tell you it's that losing you, will never be best for your family"

"Igneel… What should I do?"

"You know what you have to do…"

The image of Igneel disappeared into nothing; it wasn't as waking up from a dream since he didn't know if he was awake or sleeping. He felt aware and conscious, but there was nothing to be aware of, nothing to feel but the deep pain that he had managed to lock inside him for so long. He really thought things would have been different for him if Igneel hadn't left, how he wished he had met Lucy. –He would have loved her…-

He drifted again for some time, although it was hard to say how long it was since it seemed the space in his mind was timeless. He saw Lucy, she was wearing her short blue skirt, and her white button shirt with the blue stripe across her chest; he heard her knee length boots clack on a floor he couldn't really see as she got closer.

When she was finally next to him, she sat down and rested her head on his shoulder letting her hair fall on his chest.

"You are not here Luce, but it's nice to see you"

"Why did you leave?"

"I had to…"

"No you didn't… you should have trusted us to stand by you"

Natsu turned causing Lucy to move from his shoulder "I do trust you!"

"You keep saying I'm so strong, but if that's true then why didn't you let me fight this with you?"

"I can't let anything happen to you… I Lo…" Lucy placed her finger to his mouth "Don't…" Natsu frowned; this seemed more real than before but he knew well his brain couldn't be trusted "You can't say that to me, not like this… Once you come back you can try again" Lucy smiled sweetly and cupped his cheek, then she rubbed her thumb against his face.

Natsu laid his hand on top of hers, he sighed "I ain't coming back Luce…"

"You will even if it costs me everything"

Natsu slapped her hand away just as he'd done before, outside of the guild "You can't put yourself in danger; I did this to stop you from getting hurt!" He shook his head and closed his eyes, "You are not here, you are not real! Stop messing with my head!"

Lucy pursed her lips and frowned; she grabbed both sides of his head before resting her forehead on his "Think what you want you idiot, I'm not letting you go…" He lifted his hands to hug her but she was already gone, and he was left alone in the darkness just as before, drifting in the endless and vast space of his mind.

* * *

Lucy woke up in the middle of the night startled by a dream she had –it seemed so real- she looked at her hand and could almost feel the warmth of his cheek on her palm. She nuzzled the white scarf around her neck, which she hadn't removed before going to bed.

She looked around the room, everyone had taken a little space to get some rest after discussing their plan for the next day; she started thinking on how lucky she was to have such incredible friends. When you feel near the end you usually think of the beginning; without Natsu she didn't know where she would be now; she remembered Hargeon, and how finding each other seemed as a lucky coincidence.

"Natsu…Hang in there…"

She heard movement somewhere in the room and soon a voice interrupted the silence.

"Trouble sleeping Bunny girl?"

"Oh… Gajeel; yeah…"

"Don't worry, we'll get him back"

"I know… it's just… I feel..."

"You feel him in pain, don't you?"

"How did you know that?"

"Look, the connection you two have with each other is something you can't deny… we all know it. For what it's worth, I am really sorry for not being able to bring him back; I couldn't allow Levy to stay the way she was… "

"I know… but you owe me, you understand that right?"

"I do, and I always pay my debt"

It was early in the morning and the council was filled with movement, all members had been called for the audience. A special room had been prepared, it was spacious and somewhat round, the seating reserved for the council members was on the back of the room in high placing wooden stands, and arranged in a semi-circle facing the witness stand, which was not going to be used for this audience.

There was a special square grid close, where Natsu will be seated as he gave out his "public" confession to the council; there were a couple rune mages working on the grid to make sure he stayed in place.

Shanna kept going over the runes and adding things to its sides to make sure it was strong enough, she hadn't met Natsu in person, and didn't know what to expect, but if he was anything like his guild mates, she expected trouble.

"Don't you think you are going a bit overboard Shanna?"

"Oh Dana, you say that because you don't know these creeps! Seriously they should all be locked up…"

"Sounds to me like you are just bitter because you couldn't break them… did they rough you up a little bit sunshine?"

"Oh shut up! You don't know what they are like… and I don't think you would have done much better"

"Ha! Of course I would have, sending you was a bad decision all around!"

They bumped their heads together, and kept arguing when one of the council members walked in and cleared his throat causing them to freeze.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, He'll be wearing cuffs, and Arlo has taken care of him diligently, so, I don't think he'll be a problem, but we can't risk it. I need those runes to be double-checked, do you understand? I need this room done in 20 minutes"

"Yes Sir!" Both girls responded in unison and continued with their job.

Soon enough both mages had finished and left the room. They went to a separate room down the hall to call the council members and escort them to their seats.

"Jailor… please bring the perpetrator to face the council"

"Yes Sir"

The jailor walked to the door on the back and left; he arrived to the stairs leading to the underground cells where they kept some "special" prisoners. There were other prisons, specially made for such purposes but only a few selected ones would be held in the underground council cells. He crossed the dark stone floor and stood in front of Natsu's cell facing Arlo.

"It's time…"

"What? I was just about to start"

"Not today man, I need to take him. Are you coming?"

"I guess I have to… he is a useless sack of potatoes as of now"

They removed the chain from his feet, then the one from his hands; Arlo grabbed his wrists and dragged him all the way back to the room where he would meet the council. Natsu didn't notice he moved to another place, his senses were gone, so, whatever movement, noise, or feeling, went undetected to him.

Once in the room, the Jailor sat Natsu up in a chair within the grid and chained him to it. Once he took a step back, Shanna and Dana activated the runes.

* * *

Natsu lost track of time, the darkness engulfed him in a deathly grip, and drowned him little by little. He never thought nothingness could be so soothing and so terrifying at the same time; he was still locked in his own mind but he saw a glimpse of light in what he considered was the far distance, although he didn't have a way of knowing how close or far it was.

He saw it flashed again, each time closer; it was a golden like a string, bright and warm calling out to him; he felt as if he was moving closer to it.

"Natsu!" When he came to his senses, he was pinning a badly injured Arlo to the floor, and felt her on his back hugging him by the waist.

"Natsu…"

He felt her tears falling of his shoulder, his left arm covered in crimson scales that shone with the light in the room. He released his grip on Arlo, and looked down to see a pair on small pale hands on his middle.

"Luce…"


	20. Chapter 20

**Welcome back! Apologies! This was a holiday weekend for me and I decided to socialize XD (Which means I played Xbox with more people basically) ; in addition to a lot of work and stuff around the house and lots of other boring stuff that you don't want to read lol.**

 **OK SO! As promised, Chapter 2 was updated this week and it has a bit more details as to how our redhead danger/crazy femme fatale crossed paths with Natsu, among other stuff, in case you are interested. Also I'm considering translating this to Spanish soon... but I don't know the catch phrases in spanish since I've only watched it in English and Japanese, so if someone knows please PM!**

 **Please R &R**

* * *

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

* * *

Natsu lost track of time, the darkness engulfed him in a deathly grip, and drowned him little by little. He never thought nothingness could be so soothing and so terrifying at the same time; he was still locked in his own mind but he saw a glimpse of light in what he considered was the far distance, although he didn't have a way of knowing how close or far it was.

He saw it flashed again, each time closer; it was a golden like a string, bright and warm calling out to him; he felt as if he was moving closer to it.

"Natsu!" When he came to his senses, he was pinning a badly injured Arlo to the floor, and felt her on his back hugging him by the waist.

"Natsu…"

He felt her tears falling of his shoulder, his left arm covered in crimson scales that shone with the light in the room. He released his grip on Arlo, and looked down to see a pair on small pale hands on his middle.

"Luce…"

* * *

Their confusing encounter was soon interrupted by the loud voices of the council and the few remaining guards.

"What happened to the runes?!"

"He's a danger to Earthland! Did you see that?"

"We can't allow him to exist! He's a demon!"

Each voice more mortified than the last. Natsu couldn't grasp his mind on what had happened, he was more than confused and he felt his brain pulsating, but was still holding to Lucy's hands without facing her.

She removed her hands slowly grazing his skin, and took a step back; she looked at herself and noticed her blouse and arms were stained with blood, but she was unharmed. Her eyes immediately went to his back, which cause her to bite her lip while tears accumulated in the corners of her eyes. Below his nape the word "Traitor", on his lower back the word "Demon", and on his side the council's symbol.

She stretched her arm to touch his back, but before she could place her hands on him, she was pulled back with strength by one of the guards who placed a sword on her neck.

"Stand back demon!" She could feel the guard shaking, and this caused the sword to scrape her gentle skin; a single drop of blood dripped down her neck. An animal-like growl erupted from the Dragon Slayer's throat causing the windows to shatter immediately.

He finally turned around, and what she saw was not Natsu. His movements were calculated, he was hunched with his knees flexed, and a hand on the floor; she couldn't stop thinking about how this looked more like a natural hunter than her best friend.

"Oi! Salamander!" Gajeel ran towards him turning his arm into a metal log, but before he could make it close enough, Natsu turned his face towards him and the heat wave slammed Gajeel back.

The guard was shaking even more now, "I told you to stand back!" in a few seconds, more guards were surrounding him and pointing their guns his way. He stood up in a more human-like way and cracked his neck. Lucy recognized the danger, she could sense what he was about to do, for some reason she knew although she didn't know why.

"Listen! You all need to stand back! And you, let me go now! He won't attack you if you let go!"

"Like hell! He isn't human!"

She saw him moving his hands closer to his mouth "We don't have time! Let go!" the guard still didn't move. Lucy had no choice, she grabbed his arm with one hand and the sword with the other cutting her palms; she pushed her hips back pushing against the guard, which gave her enough space to escape his grip.

Gajeel watched in panic as Lucy ran directly against Natsu's Fire Dragon's roar with tears in her eyes. "Fuck, Natsu! Stop!" He watched as the fire stream engulfed the blond hair mage and he turned his face to avoid watching his friend being burned to a crisp… -This can't be happening…- It took all his strength he had to gather the courage to look up, but once he did, his mouth opened and he stood up to observe the scene.

There she was, unharmed, with her arms around his neck. Her clothes were a bit burned but aside from some redness on her skin, there was nothing wrong with her. Natsu's eyes were back to normal and his crimson scales faded little by little as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You've got to stop Natsu… please…"

"I… " He couldn't find the words in his head; he tightened his grip on her waist and shed a few tears before pulling her away without looking at her "You've got to go Luce…" She watched him evading her eyes, he looked defeated and his sadness caused her heart to break a bit more.

He turned to face the council again; their eyes were opened in surprise looking back from the girl who survived the scorching fire to the mage who had caused it. Natsu took a deep breath before looking directly at them and pointing his finger "We have a deal, let them go" his eyes were still filled with fire as the unsaid threat lingered between him and the council.

"You expect us to hold our end of the deal? Do you have any idea of what they just did!?" He didn't, he really didn't; he remembered only his body standing above Arlo while he fisted his hands.

"I don't care what they did" He inspected his surroundings, trying not to lose his confidence and saw the rune grid was gone and his cuffs broken on the floor next to it.

"Well, you may not care, but that doesn't change the fact this is not only a crime but an act of treason against the council"

"They walk…"

"Are you not listening to…" Natsu's voice came out as a roar and the unsaid threat that lingered was now more visible "I SAID THEY WALK" silence took over for a few seconds, the energy surrounding him was enough to cause them to flinch, and even the few high mages from the council didn't dare to respond.

Lucy looked at the carving on his back again; she looked behind her, saw Gajeel, and noticed him nodding, they knew what they had to do. Her voice was firm, and taking a demanding tone more resembling of royalty than to a mage "You will hear us now, our side of this story"

"Child, there's nothing to hear. We've seen what we needed to see!"

"Council member I think you are confused, I'm not asking… "

"This is the last straw Fairy Tail! You dare to threaten the council over this demon! Would you follow him to hell then?"

"I would follow him anywhere; if this is the path he is taking then this is the one I'll follow"

The words stroke Natsu as a brick wall "No, you won't. This is my…" Lucy didn't turn his way and just interrupted "Oh shut up! Are you seriously going to tell me this is your choice and then disregard mine? No, you won't"

Gajeel stood up and laughed loudly before adding his thought "Our choice Bunny girl"

Natsu turned his face just enough to give the Iron Dragon Slayer a deadly look "Gajeel… you were supposed to keep her safe!"

"Meh… that's why I'm here, have you tried changing this girl's mind? You chose a tough one Salamander"

The council observed this interaction still baffled until one of them broke the silence "And if we refuse to listen?"

Lucy's eyes went back to the council; they could see fire in her eyes very similar to the ones of the Dragon slayer standing protectively on her side. "If you refuse, you will be held accountable for what you've done to him"

"Is that so?... and by whom? Do you really think a mage of your class could hold a candle to the council's power?"

That was the last straw; Lucy fisted her hands in anger and screamed with all the strength of her lungs "You will be held accountable by my hand, but just in case that's not enough I'll remind you no mage of Fairy Tail stands alone in battle!" While she screamed her body was surrounded by a golden light so powerful that most eyes had to avoid the brightness; but once they were able to look, they saw her surrounded by every single one of her spirits.

"This can't be… she can't do that…" The council had never witness a Celestial mage opening so many doors at once and that sent shivers down their spine. Natsu couldn't help but notice the sight; her spirits were standing behind her, arms crossed above their chests and daring the council with their eyes, just as she did.

She was panting a bit but her spirits didn't flinch "Loke…" He took a step towards her "Yes princess" She rolled her eyes "Go help Gajeel with the doors, please"

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise when he saw what waited behind the door.

* * *

*Events outside the council*

Lucy knew the audience was about to start, they were all waiting in the forest close enough to make it in time, but far enough not to be detected by the knights.

"Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!"

The Maiden held her hand to her chest before greeting her master "Princess is it time for my punishment?"

"No, but this time we might be punishing some people after all, so hold on to that thought"

Virgo nodded seeming pleased with her answer "What can I do for you today princess?"

"Virgo, I need you to get me and Gajeel inside that building, it probably has some magic barriers. First, I need you to locate the room where they have Natsu. Would that be a problem?"

"No princess, but I may have to consume more energy in order to get past the barriers if they are underground as well. Will that be all?"

"For now, yes"

In one move, Virgo disappeared into the ground. Lucy took a deep breath before facing her friends "OK! It's a go; everyone knows what to do now?" The entire group raised their hands up and roared with a mix of fear and excitement.

Lucy turned to Erza who looked highly motivated "Hey, have you seen the master?"

"He said there was one last thing he had to do, but that we should move forward with the plan"

Lucy nodded, she kind of expected for the master to provide some words of encouragement to motivate the rest, however her concerns were washed away by the words of her redheaded friend.

"This is the last opportunity you have to turn your back and leave! We stand together as a family. Once we start we will be treated as enemies of the council, and the only thing we will have is each other"

Laxus smirked at her and looked around to see the faces of his friends, "Having each other is plenty, we will face what's to come together!" a second roar erupted. He felt a hand touching his fingers "Now that's more like the boy I remember" Mira looked at him blushing a bit before he held her hand completely entwining their fingers.

Virgo's head suddenly popped from the ground. "Princess, I've located him in the first room after the council's entrance" Lucy fisted her hand against her palm "Let's show them who Fairy Tail is!".

Lucy and Gajeel followed Virgo underground until the end of the tunnel, while their friends erupted in a roar and ran towards the council's building starting fights with the guards all over the place. The knights were impressive, but they couldn't compare to the best guild in Fiore, and soon they faced defeat.

"Virgo are we close?"

"Yes Princess, we now just need to go up. Are you ready?"

"Never been more ready for something in my life" Virgo took a jump and broke the upper part of the tunnel; after the dust settled, Gajeel, Lucy and Virgo were left standing in front of the council who kept coughing the dust out of their lungs.

"What is the meaning of this!?" There were only a few guards covering the council in a protective stance.

Lucy turned and saw Natsu siting on a chair, unmoving, eyes grayed out, and stare settled on the floor "What did you do to him!?"

"We have no need to answer to you! Guards!" The council was waiting but the front door kept still

"Guards!"

Lucy rested her hands on her hips and switched her weight "That's not going to work" She got closer now still trying to get his attention "Natsu! Hey! Natsu!"

"Scream all you want, he won't be able to get out of there!" Arlo laughed at her "I thought he was naive, but you definitely win"

Gajeel looked at Arlo and crossed his arms above his chest "Oi! Asshole! If Salamander wanted to get out of there he could easily break out"

"Even if he could, he's not able to move from the prison I made for him" He smiled confidently, he knew Natsu was so deep within himself that even he was going to struggle to bring him back.

Arlo turned his eyes at Lucy and smirked, she suddenly shook her head feeling a minor annoyance, which quickly escalated until she was kneeling on the ground covering her ears.

"Hey Bunny Girl, you ok?!" She didn't say a thing; she kept covering her ears and whimpering. "Hey Natsu! Either you come out of that shit or they are taking Bunny girl out for good!" Lucy suddenly released a painful shriek of pain that resonated in the council's chamber.

In the blink of an eye Natsu pulled his hands apart breaking the magic cuffs, and threw himself into the runes engulfed by a fire hotter than what had been seen before; he shifted his weight and launched himself to their direction while his body started covering with scales and the hint of a wing started appearing on his back.

It was almost as if everything moved in slow motion, right before Arlo could react, Natsu grabbed his face with his claw and pushed so hard that Arlo almost broke the floor. When he tried to look up, he could only see from between Natsu's fingers, and the eyes that met him were not Natsu's anymore. His eyes were red now with a mix of black on the outside, emotionless and deep.

Natsu pinned him to the floor with only his right arm, and an almost animal growl left his mouth. He raised his right fist and slammed it against Arlo's face, then he did the same with his left before switching back, this motion was repeated several times. After a few good punches he raised his left scaly arm, feeling nothing but hate, and disgust for the man in front of him; he wanted him dead, all of them dead. He prepared his claws to rip him apart only to stop at the feeling of Lucy's arms wrapping around him from behind.

"Natsu!" The sudden familiar touch snapped him out of his feral state.

"What…"

* * *

Natsu saw Laxus and Erza entering the room, followed by the Rainjishuu, next to Gray and Juvia, then the Strauss siblings along with Shadow Gear and so on, everyone was there.

"What…"

Last but not least, a group of tree flying exceeds entered the chamber, Happy detached from the group and flew directly to Natsu's chest hugging him tightly "Natsu!" He couldn't help himself and he patted his head "Hey little buddy… what are you doing here?"

"Stupid Natsu… you promised you would never leave me!" More tears fell from his eyes and he pressed his face to the mage's chest.

Natsu couldn't help but to go back to his dream, in which all his friends hated him, and Makarov regretted making him part of his family, his eyes widen when Erza's voice made the room tremble.

"As I'm sure Lucy already mentioned, we are here to be listened to"

"Have you kids gone mad? Your Master would be ashamed of you!"

A deep and confident voice made its way to the council while every single Fairy Tail mage made space for Master Makarov to walk through; he was accompanied by a tall redheaded woman, with curly hair and olive eyes, and more than a few bandages on her body.

"I would be mad if I allowed you to hurt any of my children! I think we've already established the length we are willing to go to get the boy back home"

Natsu gasped as soon as he heard his voice "Gramps…" he tried to hold his tears and avoided the stares of his friends; he couldn't allow himself to hope; he looked at Happy and allowed himself to hug him back tightly before whispering to him "I need you to go with Lucy now, ok?"

"I don't wanna…" Natsu couldn't help but smile a bit "Come on… you can't stay here with me, and I need you to look after her"

"We are supposed to look after her together Natsu... "

"Just go with her… please… don't make this harder for me" Happy looked at his best friend's face and saw the pain in his eyes while both tried to hold their tears "Aye… but only until you come back" He flew away and landed on the blonde's arms, sobbing while she caressed his head.

"You are risking everything you've worked for Makarov, Mavis' Legacy, your legacy; he tortured and killed someone, how can you defend him?"

"I've raised all of these children, and I know what's truly in their hearts. As I told your inquisitor" He looked at Shanna for a second "I trust my children's judgment" Shanna almost felt the look piercing through her, she took a step back knowing there wasn't a battle to fight when it came to Makarov.

A second councilmember raised his voice "This… this demon" The council member pointed at Natsu directly "signed a binding contract! No trial will be held! We have no need to listen to your excuses!"

Levy made her way to the front of the council holding an enormous book, its cover was made of black leather and it had an inscription on the front that read "Magical council: Rules and regulations"

"We are actually moving to declare that contract void"

"Ms. McGarden, I'm sad to see you here, you've been of great service to the council and you should know that's not possible, unless…"

"Unless they have the support of the major guilds in Fiore" the voice came from behind the door. Soon enough the next caravan of guild members appeared in front of the council. Sting, and Rogue followed by Minerva and Yukino from Sabretooth; Master Bob and Ichiya followed by Hibiki, Ren, and Eve from Blue Pegasus; Goldmine followed by Bacchus, War Cry, and Rocker from Quatro Cerberus; Ooba followed by Jura, Lyon, Sherria, and Sherry from Lamia Scale, and lastly Kagura and Milliana from Mermaid Heel.

"You have all lost your minds! This is outrageous! Why would you be defending this… this demon!"

Gildarts started walking to the front of the line; the energy emerging from him was enough to make the ground shake from fear; this was noticeable by the faces of the councilmembers.

"This "demon" has had his life on the line on countless occasions for Fiore, if it wasn't for him many of the present here would be long gone, so I ask you to tone yourself down a bit" Gildarts gave the councilmembers a look that was sure to cause nightmares.

The highest chair from the council stood up and stared down at them, his own magical energy resonating against Gildarts', causing some electricity to crack through the air.

"Under what grounds would you consider this contact void?"

Levy then opened the book to the page she had marked "Under the strict Fiore law, in case of the council being tainted or holding personal interest in a case then the case would be revised and any deal or contract would be void"

"Ms. McGarden those are serious accusations" Levy looked at Natsu's back for a second before flinching "Well if that wasn't enough, I'm sure there's also something there about torturing prisoners prior to their trial or hearing… I could look for the specific paragraph if you prefer…"

The man sighed in defeat "Very well then… We will listen to what you have to say, but the final decision will still come from the council, and this little act of you will not be free of repercussions. Mr. Dragneel, please go back to your seat"

"OI! I'm not agreeing to any of this!" He pointed at several groups standing on the room "You! You!" then he pointed at Lucy "AND ESPECIALLY YOU! Get out!"

Sting took a step forward, as master of his guild he had a saying just as any of the others "This isn't up to you Natsu; the guilds have majority and have challenged the council's authority and their ability to judge your case; sorry man but you'll have to suck it up"

Natsu growled, he wasn't happy about this but burning the room down wouldn't help any of them, so he went back to his seat. He wasn't put in cuffs anymore nor did they reinforced the rune grid since it was now obvious if he was still there it was of his own accord, and if for some reason he wanted to leave, not a soul there would be able to stop him.

When he walked passed Lucy she stared at his back once again; the red wounds still fresh from the carving on his skin. Her heart shivered in pain from thinking what he had endured not only during the last few days, but starting months ago –I'll take you home, whatever the cost...I said you could try to tell me again once you were home- Despite that being an internal comment she clearly saw Natsu glance at her in confusion as he looked directly at her for the first time.

Sting then turned to Rogue and whispered, "I thought he would put more of a fight…"

"I agree, he's acting… unlike Natsu…"

They've forgotten that the other Dragon slayers also had excellent hearing and soon they were joined by Gajeel "He's broken… he is acting unlike Natsu, because he ain't himself right now"

Gajeel could almost feel Natsu's stare burning a hole behind his head, and once he turned to look at him he noticed he wasn't wrong; Natsu barely mumbled although he was sure the Iron Dragon Slayer would hear "I'm going to make you regret this…"

He smirked and spoke back softly "Well, let's hope you have the opportunity to make that happen"

Lucy's spirits had returned to the celestial realm, little by little, although Loke remained using his own energy. Lucy frowned when she saw Merryl standing next to the master holding a piece of cloth under her arm -Who the hell is that?-

She was startled when she heard something other than herself - I can't let them take her… she should have escaped - She looked back at Natsu thinking if this was actually him, he was referring to her, however, once she saw him looking at the girl next to Makarov, her brow raised and twitched.

"Ms. Heartfilia… You said we would be held accountable, you said you would follow his path… I wonder what would that mean when he is found guilty?" The tall mage sitting on the highest chair leaned on the table and rested his face on his hand while giving her a quizzical look.

Lucy gulped and stared back at him, she could feel all eyes from every guild in Fiore looking at her; no one had dared to ask her that question and she was sure they wouldn't like the answer "I'm sure we will walk out of here together councilmember, one way or the other…"

"As Friend or foe?..."

"If that's the way it has to be...so be it"

The room became so silent that everyone could hear the breeze going through the broken windows; this was only interrupted by the sound of wings when Happy jumped out of Lucy's arms fisting his paw and landing a punch in the air "Aye Sir! We won't leave without him!" this caused Natsu's lips to curl a bit, he was still worried for them, but just the sight of his friends there at least for one last time made him feel more peaceful.

Suddenly he looked at his palms and felt panic invading him -If that happens I'll have to end things myself before she does something stupid - His train of thought was interrupted by a very angry blonde woman pointing at him with shaky hands "NATSU DRAGNEEL DON'T YOU DARE! I swear I'll bring you back to the land of the living to kick your ass all the way back to eternity!" Everyone looked at her not understanding what just had happened.

The only one that seemed to understand was Gajeel who laughed quietly on the back. "What the hell…" Natsu being as dense as he was, hadn't really connected the dots and was just staring at rubbed his head "Oh Man, I think she really lost her mind now" Lucy pulled at his tail "Shut up you stupid cat! I'll pull your tail off!"

"Help! Lucy is trying to eat me!"

The highest councilman cleared his throat "You have one chance Ms. Heartfilia… make it count. We don't have much time, so please… do this quickly"

Lucy sat on the witness stand that was not supposed to be used for this audience and tried to explain.

"I visited Fukuro Tatsuma at the end of September, and was held there against my will until December 31st when the incident happened"

"You showed an incredible amount of power earlier today, how could we believe you were held against your will?"

"He had power over me… he could touch someone and make their worst fears come true, this mark also stopped me from using my magic"

Another council member, one of the two that had spoken to Natsu first raised his voice, "This is ridiculous, the Tatsuma family didn't have any magic"

"They did! An ancient one, a dark and horrible one!"

The highest council member raised his hand to stop his colleagues from interrupting her "Fine, so you couldn't use your powers, what was stopping you from leaving and asking for help?"

"My nightmares… I couldn't allow them to become real…"

"I'll need a bit more than that Ms. Heartfilia"

She took a deep breath, looked at Natsu and then back at the council "In my dream… the city was covered by dark clouds, all of my friends were dead… Natsu promised to keep me safe and left to fight whatever was behind the darkness, and then… he never came back; I was left with nothing but his bloody scarf"

Natsu looked at her with pain in his eyes; Fukuro was using his fear to push him away from her, and hers to keep her prisoner, and at the end, she still ended up with his scarf around her neck, which now was stained with the blood from his back.

"Why would he go to so much trouble for you? Your family name fell and you don't have a penny to your name"

Lucy blushed and cleared her throat "He said...I am… he said he needed a celestial wizard to pass on his powers, he needed me to give him a son to pass his mark and continue his legacy"

This was interrupted by another one of the members that had received Natsu first "You expect us to believe that such a high member of society with no bonds to dark magic known to the council, held you hostage, and still decided to have a traditional wedding just so he could have sex with you and get a son? You should get this woman's head checked"

That was clearly a mistake; everyone noticed how the temperature of the room started to rise while a low growl came from the back of Natsu's throat; it suddenly stopped when he heard her in his head -Look at me… it's ok" - He looked up and she was giving him that smile that was meant just for him, he clenched his fists and the room started getting cooler immediately.

"He did it because I asked him to; he wanted me to choose to stay and once I didn't he gave me the mark. So, I told him I would stay willingly, and give him a son if we did it my way"

"How convenient…" That small horrible man that greeted Natsu the first day rolled his eyes and waved his hand.

"May we see the mark then?" Lucy froze immediately, for everything she and her friends knew, they had no proof of Fukuro being involved with magic, the house had burned down, and there was nothing left.

The councilman noticed her nervousness and smirked "So, you have nothing and expect us to believe your story because of the goodness in our hearts?" Lucy felt her skin tingling, the color left her face and she felt fear take over her, until a sudden outburst from behind took her out of her fear.

"Of course we wouldn't believe in the goodness of your heart… councilmen" The redhead that Lucy had wondered about made her way to the stand; she could see the councilman flinching at her presence. The highest councilman then intervened "And who are you, dear?"

She tilted her head and smiled; she pressed her hand to her chest and exaggeratedly bowed "Merryl Marlone your excellence" she looked up without losing position, and Lucy could see the crooked smile on her face -oh, so this is the floozy - Lucy couldn't help to frown at her presence.

The still afraid councilman interrupted "This woman has no reason to be here, she is not a mage at all and has no business talking to the council"

Merryl regained her position and laughed loudly, "Oh, but I did grow up in the manor, worked for Fukuro Tatsuma, along with…" this time it was Natsu who interrupted "I agree she has no business being here, go away Merr". Lucy's brow was twitching more every time -OH so she has a cute name now… Well, at least I didn't have to throw myself at him to get mine - she crossed her arms against her chest. Natsu was now sure he had lost his mind, there was no way he heard her say that.

Merryl looked at the council before continuing "along with doing his dirty work and sharing his bed" Lucy could see Natsu wrinkling his nose and looking away and she could hear the thought that crossed his mind - What the fuck are you doing… you need to leave before they throw your ass in jail… -

Lucy wasn't sure if to feel calm knowing she had something to say, or upset about Natsu being protective over her.

"Then I assume you have a particularly good insight about this situation, I'll allow for you to remain Ms. Marlone" Those words cause the two councilman that had been arguing the most to flinch.

Lucy's head felt dizzy, she could see something invading her mind, something like a memory but it wasn't hers, she turned and saw Natsu resting his elbows on his knees holding his head with both hands and she allowed to drift away in the images flooding her mind.

"Yeah, you are aware of what happens with wizards that go rogue, correct? You won't be able to go home. Natsu… you'll be an easy target for him unless you kill or hide your humanity… you don't know if you'll have the strength to pull yourself back"

"What do you suggest?"

"Practice makes perfect… I'm equally responsible for this, so, start with me"

"Are you fucking mad?"

"You should know the answer to that by now"

"Get the fuck away Merryl, I'm not playing this game with you"

"Well, you know who's playing the game pretty well? Fukuro… he is probably playing so well her smell is already covering his sheets"

"Shut up…"

"Who knows, if she likes a monster like you, she is so sick that she probably enjoys being the victim in all of this. Maybe she's letting him rough her up a little bit; I know exactly what he likes… I can see her frail skin bruised and her broken soul crawling back to him over and over to save your sorry ass"

"Shut up!"

"Do you feel guilty? That he is using you to get into her pants? I knew exactly what he was going to do you know? I basically handed her to him on a golden platter. I know exactly how he'll pin her down and..."

A growl erupted from deep inside him and in the blink of an eye, he slammed her against the floor. He looked far from human now, and stood up just to pierce her ankle with his claws before pulling her up by her foot and slamming her again; the sound of cracking bones was so similar to a thick branch breaking and it made way for Merryl's painful cry.

"It's not enough; you are all going to pay… I'm going to make you pay"

"She is paying for us already! She'll pay for all eternity until she is useless and used! And their offspring will be old enough to scare her to death just as Fukuro did to his parents!"

With one jump, Natsu landed above her, pinning her to the ground and landed his hot open claw on her stomach causing her to shriek just before he let his claws pierce her skin; he pulled his claws down causing deep cuts on her stomach. She looked at him and his eyes were not his, not confused, not childish but dark and deep. He was growling and his teeth looked like the ones of an actual demon, long and sharp.

"That anger you feel…" Merryl started letting the tears drip down her face "don't let it go until he is cold and dead, if you let go of it before it happens… you won't be able to do it Lizard…"

Natsu was out of his mind with anger, and his blood was boiling. Merryl had given him all he needed; he grabbed her by the neck and raised her from the floor just to throw her against the trees.

Natsu was now kneeling, both hands on the floor, panting. He started punching the ground so hard, the earth trembled at his touch, and then suddenly he stopped. He stood up, patted his clothes in the most common way possible and started walking.

"Wait!" She could barely stand but managed to get close enough to grab his leg, "Just end this! What are you waiting for?!"

He turned her way "Do you think I am as merciful as to just finish you off? You may be useless now, but you don't deserve mercy" he looked at her with a crooked grin before he kicked her out of the way and left. Before he was able to leave, he heard her weak voice.

"Don't go around breaking promises Natsu! You said you'd kill him! Where are you going?!"

He didn't turn around before responding "I'm going to get him away from her… if removing his mark doesn't work then I'll take him out of there and finish him elsewhere… You can go visit his grave below the highest peak at the Phoenix Mountains; I'll leave something behind so you can recognize the place… if you live"

Lucy snapped out of it and stared at Natsu who was now covering his eyes with his hands. He listened to Merryl tell her story with full detail; she hadn't heard much of what she was saying since she was lost in her thoughts, well… his thought really, memories of him breaking the redhead's body and she suddenly understood why he didn't want her there; she had done horrible things, but then again so did he.

"So, that's how I ended up in Fairy Tail...he had ordered me to get Natsu away long enough to convince Lucy to go to the manor and he had a plan to make her stay; he hoped for her to do it willingly, but had his backup plan just in case she figured out his plans"

"Ms. Marlone… and what does that have to do with Mr. Dragneel torturing and killing Mr. Tatsuma?"

"That's simple… It was the only way to make things go back. So, I'm sure if you find your records you'll find the information of the death of his parents, the only way to take things back… well the ones that could be taken back… was to scare him to death since the root of his power was fear itself. Let me ask you… when you uncovered Fukuro's body… did he look dry and old like a mummy?"

The council looked at each other, that information hadn't been revealed before, so there was no way for her to know "That's exactly how it happens, his power is drained completely and they wither"

The highest councilmember looked at her "I know the magic you refer to, it is in fact old and dark… but it was also exterminated too, long ago, the body was carefully examined and we didn't find trail of this magic"

"Wow what a surprise!" Her tone was sarcastic and daring "The skin was probably so dry that you didn't even notice the missing skin did you?"

"The missing… there was one laceration to the skin but we…" she laughed again and grabbed with both hands a purple cloth she was holding underneath her arm "I come bearing gifts my lord!" she let the cloth unroll; the council's gasp was noticeable, but no one else could see what she was holding.

"Where did you get that!" One of the scared and pitiful councilman had slammed his hands against the table looking at her with anger. What she was holding was indeed the missing skin patch that still had the mark of the owl, although it looked like a piece of leather now thanks to Natsu's heat.

"Flame over here left it behind for me to know where he would be buried, he probably forgot about it when he decided to surrender"

"That changes nothing! That just makes you an accomplice"

"Indeed I am!"

Everyone stayed silent at her declaration "I was the one who placed the job requests at his command, the first, where he got to touch Natsu Dragneel, and the second, when he got ahold of a Lucy Heartfilia! And I also took a role in keeping him at bay long enough for him to take her and oh so much more!" she laughed again as if it was nothing.

Lucy stood up and fisted her hands before punching the redheads face causing her to fall on her behind "WHY?!"

Merryl rubbed her cheek "You have a mean hook girl…" she sighed crossing her legs while still on the floor "Why else? I had the mark, my brother and mother were all I had; I did his bidding to protect them, but I failed… he took her in front of you, did you forget?"

"Alicia…" How could she have not seen it, the same olive eyes, the shape of their face; their character was completely different of course, it was clear to Lucy that Merryl had lost her marbles long ago.

"Oh, since we are talking 'bout Why! I forgot to mention that the sudden devilish outbursts of the Dragon Slayer in question were directly the asshole's fault"

"Meaning?"

Makarov got closer to the stand and cleared his throat "Council… since we discovered Natsu's relationship with Zeref and how he and the other slayers came to live in this time, we've been clear about the root of his power. You are aware that aside from being a Dragon Slayer he was also brought back by his brother as a demon from one of his books"

"Makarov… we are aware of his nature, which is why we are concerned about this"

"That is not his nature; his nature is kind and loyal just as any of the other members. Fukuro had a lot of power, but even then he wouldn't be able to kill a demon" Makarov looked at the council and took a deep breath "While using his power he was trying to weaken him until death, something that was successful, but not the way he expected it. While he succeeded in weakening his human side little by little, he never thought this would leave the demon alive"

"The more reason to be concerned, since you are claiming that what we see before us is nothing but demon"

"Don't underestimate my children… while he did weaken him almost to the point of dying, he was not able to complete this, and do you think he would have willingly surrendered himself to you? Do you think you would still be alive if he was all demon! He could have easily gotten rid of the guard, the runes, and the cuffs since the start!"

The council remained in silence before Merryl interrupted again, "Not only that, we consider the council unfit for ruling"

"I beg your pardon!"

"You know… since some members of the council directly benefited from the magic in question…"

"You are walking in dangerous ground child!"

"Come on… ask them…"

Freed was the one to speak now "I've made sure to surround the place with runes… better than the ones your inquisitors use"

The highest councilman looked at his colleagues before sighing "Very well, we can't refuse since the guilds have majority" he had barely finished speaking when the same two councilmen that had been shaking since the start, got off their chairs looking for the exit, only to be faced with Laxus and Gajeel's fists.

"OI! Where do you think you are going little piece of shit!" Gajeel was holding one of the members by the neck of the shirt, while Laxus had the other one by the belt of his rope.

The rest of the council murmured and shook their heads, this kept going until the highest councilman sighed and spoke up "In light of current events we need time to consider this situation… Jailor take Mr. Dragneel back to his cell"

"No!" Lucy walked towards Natsu with determination, "You can't take him away, I won't let you" she stood in front of him facing the council, and moved her hand to her keys. The sudden feeling of Natsu grabbing her by her hips and resting his face on the spot where her shoulder met her neck startled her. He allowed himself to take a deep breath to take in her essence.

"Vanilla... "she froze, just when she was about to reach for his hands he whispered to her ear "I'm sorry Luce…" He got ahold of her keys and pushed her away before throwing them to Gajeel "I'm collecting my favor lightning rod" Gajeel gulped but nodded.

"What the hell! Gajeel give me my keys!"

No can do Bunny girl"

"You owe me!"

He looked down, then at Levy and finally back at Lucy "I owe him more"

Natsu turned his back at everyone, and while leaving, he raised his right hand with his index and thumb up, making a signal they knew well - remember Luce… no matter where you are or if our paths are different… I'll always be looking at your side… so don't fail -


	21. Chapter 21

***Bows, apologizes and waits for Punishment* I took a long time to update, I'm sorry. I was planning my Gmom's bday party and also ended in an impromptu getaway weekend that involved large amounts of Tequila XD**

 **In all honesty, I was also figuring out where I wanted to go with this story, since I could probably finish in a few more chapters and continue developing the new fanfic I'm working on, but I decided against it…**

 **Also not sure if you noticed but CH3 was also rewritten and it now contains more details in case anyone was to go check it out**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **There may be a great fire in our hearts, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke.**

 **\- Vincent Van Gogh -**

* * *

Natsu turned his back at everyone, and while leaving, he raised his right hand with his index and thumb up, making a signal they knew well - remember Luce… no matter where you are or if our paths are different… I'll always be looking at your side… so don't be failing -

Lucy looked at Natsu walking away from her again, a mix of anger, sadness, and loneliness that she had never experienced before invaded her. This was somehow worse than when her father treated her as property, worse than before joining the guild.

She turned back to stare at Gajeel, he couldn't look her in the eye; Lucy balled her hands and looked down, she was panting and her face was red from anger; she pulled her hand back to gain speed and slapped Gajeel across the face with such strength that she was sure some of her own bones broke.

"GIVE ME BACK MY KEYS!"

He rubbed his face amazed on how strong the blonde girl had become over the years, but he didn't budge "No"

"Gajeel… . ...Now…" Gajeel took a deep breath and shook his head "No can do bunny girl"

"You said this was our choice! You fucking hypocrite! If this was Levy, tell me Gajeel! What would you do?"

"Tsk… I know what I would do… But that's not the same, if it was me in there and Levy out here, I would have asked him to do the same, and I would expect for him to do it"

Lucy was beyond mad, but the adrenaline was fading, and she could finally feel the pain in her hand from slapping Gajeel. Levy stood beside her and hugged her tightly giving Gajeel an angry look, which let him know he would pay for this several times over.

Master Makarov walked to his children and stared at their baffled faced; this hadn't gone bad, but it wasn't as they expected it to go "Wendy, could you please take a look at Lucy's hand?"

The young dragon slayer nodded and walked to a sobbing, and devastated Lucy to fix her hand while Makarov continued "The council will need time to review this new information, Ms. Marlone has offered to stay and answer their questions in private while they inspect the evidence she brought along. So, for now, we will retreat to the Inn and await for answers"

The guild members started walking away while whispering about the situation, and the sudden angry display from their guild members; everyone left except for Wendy, Lucy, Levy, and Gajeel. He extended his hand to where the girls were, hoping to help, but he was met with Lucy's evil stare before she slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me… "She sighed, "One thing was for him to run away from you, I get that… It wasn't something you could control… but this? "

"Look... I owe him, and big time"

"Oh I see… so you owe him and that's why you are willing to watch him go kamikaze? Mavis! You are such a hypocrite! If it was me in there you would be encouraging him to blast the fucking building up!"

"Because it's not the same!"

"Wow Gajeel… so, it's perfectly fine to let him risk his life for all of us, but not for us to do the same? I thought Igneel and Metalicana had shown you loyalty, apparently Dragons are not as loyal as I thought…"

"You don't know what you are talking about!"

"Right… I'm the one who doesn't know…" Lucy walked passed him and stormed out of the building. Gajeel was balling his fists when he noticed both Levy and Wendy giving him the dirty eye.

"What!?"

"Gajeel… seriously… you can be such a dick sometimes…"

"Woa, so, I'm the asshole here?!" he turned to Wendy hoping for a little back up, of course the young Dragon Slayer would know better, after all she had been raised by a Dragon herself, however, he found the young, innocent, and sweet teenager looking at him with anger "Yeah! You are… what she said!"

"I… what… wait.. WHAT THE HELL?!"

Levy and Wendy walked away leaving him even more confused than before, he turned on his heels, hands in his pockets, and hunching his back, mumbling about how he would never understand the crazy women from his guild along with something that sounded "You should come with a fucking manual"

He walked back to the inn still mumbling and kicking every single pebble on the way, and directed himself to the restaurant where he knew most of them would be; he noticed two bluenettes and a blonde missing from the table.

He grabbed a chair and turned it backwards to rest his arms and chin on the back of it, not caring much about the conversation until Cana sat next to him.

"Why the long face metal head?"

"None of your damn business drunkard…"

"Would it have to do with a tiny pretty looking genius not joining us for lunch?"

He huffed and turned his face sideways to avoid Cana's question "Well that answers my question. SO! What did you do?" by this point, people had started paying attention to their conversation since Cana was a bit loud.

"What did I DO? She's the one being unreasonable! I did nothing wrong…"

"Sure… ok then what happened?"

"She is fucking mad because I backed Natsu up, and Blondie called me a hypocrite" This last comment caught Mira's attention "Why would she call you that?"

"Because if it was her, I would tell Salamander to burn that place to the ground! Can you believe her?"

The girls looked at each other and Gajeel caught a glimpse of something dangerous, which he decided to ignore; Mira cleared her throat "So… what did you tell her?"

"What do you mean? If it were Levy in there, I would leave nothing but dust! It's not the same" The girls were shocked by this statement, but before they had finished processing the information, the boys added their two cents.

"Of course it's not the same, they are being ridiculous" Gray simply crossed his arms above his chest, and huffed in annoyance.

"Yeah! He's being a man! So is Natsu!" Elfman missed to notice Evergreen's eye twitch.

Laxus listened carefully, he was probably the only one aware of how things were about to explode so he simply nodded and stayed silent, "What are you nodding about Laxus?!" Mira's dark aura made everyone go silent.

"Ahem… I agree in general"

"With…?"

He knew this was an unavoidable train wreck, and he was not about to let Mira make him look weak "With them, obviously we would all do the same that Natsu and Gajeel did, and you should understand that we are responsible for protecting you. Levy and Lucy ARE being ridiculous and there's no argument about that"

Mira gave him a serious look and turned to Gajeel "You did take her keys, and I assume you haven't given them back, have you?"

"It's for her own damn good! Salamander asked me to"

"Juvia thinks you should give them back, Lucy has all the right to make her own choices"

"Come on Rain-woman! Not you too… She wants her keys back to go on some crazy suicide mission"

"Maybe, but Juvia thinks that's exactly what Natsu did; the difference is Lucy is not doing it alone, and she WAS trusting us to help"

Evergreen's eye was still twitching, she crossed her legs and gave Elfman a cold stare "SO… the manly thing to do is to take a girl's possessions to force her to do as you expect?" Elfman open and closed his mouth a bit, but wasn't able to answer.

Bickslow started laughing maniacally "Guys you seriously fucked up! These girls don't need protection, and Natsu is completely capable of fending for himself"

"Oh, so I guess that's why you almost attacked the damn inquisitor; after all Lisanna and Natsu don't need protection, right?" Laxus was smirking at his friend, he didn't find pleasure on affecting his team members but he wasn't gonna let him out of trouble so easily, nor was he planning on going down by himself.

"What!?" Lisanna slammed her hand on the table and changed into her cat form, scratching the table in the process.

"YO! You are getting this all wrong; we are all doing what's best to protect Lucy, as we should. After all what kind of men would we be if…" Juvia stood up and turned to Gray; she poked his chest with strength, right above his heart where she would usually draw a cross with her fingers to let him know he was making a mistake "So, Gray-Sama thinks that Juvia isn't capable of protecting him?"

He rubbed his chest and widen his eyes "Wait, what! No I didn't say that!" (Much too late Gray… ). At this point Erza was now up and drawing her sword "You have all accepted that the responsibility of carrying our weak selves to safety, lands on you? Is that correct?" Gray lifted his hands and gulped "Erza, of course I didn't mean you! You could probably rescue half of us!"

"OH! So Erza could but I can't?"

This didn't end well for the guys; comments went from "Get off your fucking high horse" to "Is that because you don't consider me as much a Lady as them?". By the end of the argument, the boys had their feet so deep in their mouths that there was no way to untangle the mess, leaving them with a few scratches, bruises, and with no female company.

Gray was holding some ice to his head with his right hand, and a whiskey on his left "What the hell just happened?"

Happy was still snickering on the support beams above their heads, Carla sitting next to him with her nose up, and Lily crossing his arms above "Well there was no way to help them out of that one"

"Oi Cat! You've got something to say?"

Carla flew down and landed on the table gracefully "As a matter of fact I do. I'm impressed even that tomcat was able to recognize your mistake…"

"Aye!" Happy and Lily had joined Carla on the table "You guys are so dumb! You practically told them that this was something you could do but they can't; you never ever tell a girl that!"

"Happy is right, although I can't believe I'm agreeing with him" Gajeel gave Lily an evil stare and crossed his arms.

"If I may add, you also took away their choice, gentlemen… This is a life threatening risk you would take for them, but wouldn't "allow" them to take for you; how would you feel if they did the same?"

The guys stayed silent for a moment before it hit them, some of the girls had done this before. Juvia had jumped to what it seemed certain death to save Gray from Fukuro; when the tower of heaven happened, Erza was willing to become one with the lacrima to save her friends; Levy swam in a poison pool to save Gajeel; Lisanna risked her life to save Elfman from himself, and Lucy had surrendered her life not too long ago to spare Natsu from dying.

"Why was I even involved in this? I didn't say a word" Freed was calmly sitting on a chair with a cut on his forehead, and was holding a cold drink to his head.

"Well! Looks like a bunch of you are gonna get cold tonight guys" Happy covered his mouth with his paw before flying away to avoid being skinned by the guys.

They agreed to call it a night and went back to their rooms, still thinking about what the exceeds had mentioned. Gajeel grabbed the doorknob but stopped when a familiar smell hit him; he expected Levy to not be in the room, and was surprised by it "Gihi, maybe she is not that angry anymore".

He opened the door, and the sight made him dizzy; Levy was lying on her stomach reading a book in bed; she was wearing nothing but a pair of lacy dark blue panties, along with one of his shirts; her knees were bent, and she moved her feet playfully while reading and playing with a strand of her hair.

His eyes went straight to her bottom; he considered Levy to be perfect from every strand of hair to the tip of her toes, but Levy's perfectly shaped ass, had always been one of his favorite things to watch, even before they were together; of course, this was no secret to Levy.

Gajeel gulped and cleared his throat before closing the door with his foot "Hey Shrimp…" Levy turned her face slightly and lowered her glasses "Hey", that's all she said, that's all she had to say; Gajeel thought again, she couldn't be THAT mad, at least she was talking to him, right?

He walked slowly towards the bed and sat next to her; he waited a few minutes expecting for her to say something, but she had gone back to reading. Gajeel huffed a bit before slowly raising his hand and directing it to her ass; the man was gambling, she could get angry and lash at him, but at least then she would talk to him, or she could do what Levy did best, giggle and look cute. However the third option that he didn't play in his head was about to unfold.

Levy smacked his hand away, and giggled, but not in a cute way; she gave him teasing smirk "Oh Gajeel, did you really think it was going to be that easy?" He was confused, excited, and annoyed at the same time.

"Yeah, for a bit there I did shrimp"

"Stupid Dragon… There will need to be some retribution in order for you to gain my forgiveness"

Gajeel had no idea where this was going, but decided Levy's look was interesting enough for him to investigate, he gulped "Ok… I'll bite" Levy covered her mouth and giggled "Maybe…" Gajeel widen his eyes, this woman was going to be the death of him, and he loved it.

"What do I need to do to gain your forgiveness?" Despite his attempts to keep his voice cool, he was purring. He raised one finger and tried to trace her waist only to be smacked away again.

Levy sat up and commanded "Get off the bed" Gajeel gave her a confused look, until he noticed the look in her eyes "Now, Gajeel"

"Yes Ma'am" He jumped off the bed, he straightened himself up and observed her expectantly.

Levy couldn't help but giggle again at the sight of the powerful man melting in front of her "Gajeel… Shirt, off" He complied quickly and removed his shirt throwing it at the other end of the room.

"Good… Pants, off" No one had ever moved as quickly as he did, his pants had landed over a small table knocking down a lamp. Levy got off the bed, and started walking around him while tapping her chin with her index finger "Ok, kneel Gajeel"

"Wait, why?" Levy puffed her cheeks "Are you really going to argue with me now?" he chuckled a bit and kneeled "No ma'am" she seemed pleased at his answer.

"Smart boy, hands above your head Gajeel" He was certainly growing a bit suspicious, this was indeed not a normal behavior for Levy, however against his better judgment he decided to play along; after all, this was Levy, what could she ever do to him?

Levy walked towards his pants, grabbed his belt and wrapped it around his wrists; although a bit confused, he was also rather excited about how things were turning out to be. Gajeel knew at some point his need for dominance would take over, however this could wait for a few minutes, while Levy got whatever this was, out of her system and he was, of course, more than happy to comply with whatever made her happy.

The one thing Gajeel had failed to notice while being so distracted by Levy's actions, was that she was actually holding a very special pen in her hand; with a couple of swift moves she dribbled something above the belt, and walked again to where his pants were. Gajeel heard a metallic sound and turned immediately to watch Levy shaking Lucy's keys on her index finger.

"OI! What the hell Levy!"

She stuck her tongue out and turned on her heels to run out the door, closely followed by a very angry, Dragon Slayer. As soon as Gajeel took two steps out of the door he slammed into an invisible wall, he shook his head and landed his eyes on Levy who was giving him a cocky smile.

"And that's what happens when you act like an ass!"

Gajeel was about to shout at her when he saw the letters appearing on the wall

"Gajeel Redfox will not be allowed to go through this wall until Levy McGarden decides so, or until he HEARTLY apologizes to "Princess Lucy" and "Mistress Levy" admitting he acted like a complete idiot"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

"Aw, that's not a good start Gajeel"

"That ain't happening Shrimp!"

"Well, then I guess you are going to stay right there"

Gajeel huffed in annoyance and turned to walk back in the room only to slam into another wall "You gotta be kidding me…"

"This wall will activate as soon as both Levy McGarden and Gajeel Redfox leave the room. The wall will not be removed until Levy McGarden decides so, or until he HEARTLY apologizes to "Princess Lucy" and "Mistress Levy" admitting he acted like a complete idiot"

"Levy! Remove this shit, right now!"

"Oh I'm sorry, did I hear please remove this Mistress Levy?"

"I ain't joking Shrimp"

"Me neither. Enjoy your new accommodations Gajeel! Good night!"

Levy turned on her heel and opened the door where the rest of the girls were "Here ya go Lu!" She threw the keychain right at Lucy who held it to her chest.

"By Mavis! What did you do? And why are you walking around in your underwear?"

They suddenly heard a loud roar coming from the aisle followed by a "FUCK!" Levy put both hands on her hips and winked "That's what he gets for acting like an idiot"

Levy proceeded to tell the girls in detail what she had done to Gajeel causing Cana to laugh so hard she fell to the floor "Well this is the biggest case of Dragon sized "Blue Balls" in the history of Earthland! Go Levy!"

Lucy gave them a half smile; she loved her guild, but without Natsu it just wasn't the same "Hey girls, can we call it a night? I'm a bit tired" They smiled at her; they had all been there trying to cheer her up but knew well that nothing will do the trick until they received final news of Natsu.

Cana opened the door and the first thing she saw was Gajeel sulking wearing nothing but his boxers, he couldn't hold her laugh, which only caused the girls to rush to the door to watch. Cana whistled loudly "Gajeel! Looking good!"

He sat on the floor still struggling with the restraints on his wrists, and mumbled something without removing his angry look from them until each got to their own rooms.

* * *

A couple of hours had passed since Fairy Tail had crashed the council; Natsu had been sitting in his cell sulking silently when he heard footsteps in the distance until the tall figure was standing outside of his cell. They observed each other for a bit before Natsu got desperate.

"What do you want old man?"

The man standing in front of him was non other than the council leader, a wizard with reputation within the wizard saints although he had refused the position.

"Such irreverent demeanor… Do you know who I am?"

"Look, I don't care who you are; you are either a judge or an executioner, so which is it?"

"How about a man willing to provide a way out for you?" he rested his hand above the door and removed the magic seal to open it "Follow me Mr. Dragneel"

Natsu stood up and walked behind the man leaving some distance, there was something odd about him; the man knew what he could do and was still willing to turn his back on him, Natsu didn't smell an ounce of fear on him, which made him wary.

They finally got to an office, black and white square floors, tall bookcases and a big desk in front of a stained glass window that seemed to be telling a story.

Natsu paid attention to the images; he could see a wizard with black hair and clothing attacking on one end, the colors around him were darker somehow, and they got clearer little by little. His eyes traced the window side to side, he saw in the middle of it all there were villages and mages defending the land, and just before reaching the other end he saw them… a group of Dragons of different colors.

"Please take a sit"

Natsu crossed his arms and cocked his head "I rather stand old man"

"My name is Shiro Mahotsu Mr. Dragneel, I'd rather you refer to me as such. I recognize this was never meant to be a fair audience and it pains me to see the corruption that has gotten within the council" he entangled his fingers and rested his hands on the desk "That being said, Fairy Tail caused severe damage to our building, forces, and confidence towards them"

"Confidence? That's a big word coming from the council. Don't matter… we made a deal"

"Which was made void by your own guild if I remember correctly" Natsu felt ice going through his veins and he realized what this was about, after all his efforts this was not close to being over "Mr. Dragneel, the rest of the council strongly feels the one that should be held responsible is Master Makarov since he supported this incident"

"No, no, no! You can't!" Shiro raised his hand to silence him "We can, the council wishes to remove Makarov from the guild and lock him up for reckless endangerment and damage to property; they also think you should be executed along with some of your teammates"

"My teammates?"

"Gajeel Redfox and Lucy Heartfilia… The rest would receive a lesser punishment"

The temperature of the room began to rise, and Natsu could feel his scales creeping up his arm "If you or anyone dares to lay a finger on them…" a growl started to form in the back of his throat before the council member continued "As the leader of the council they will follow my lead, I told them I wanted to give you an option… I know this will only lead to more destruction on your behalf and we wouldn't want that, would we?"

"You can't even imagine… destruction is a term you know nothing about"

"If you take that path, there's nothing we can do about it. Please keep in mind that even if you get rid of the council the name Fairy Tail would be tainted in blood, there wouldn't be a place for anyone to go back to"

Natsu felt a sharp pain in his chest; Fairy Tail was not only a home for him, but for all of them "What do you want?"

"I want to cut a deal with you… but before we proceed I need your promise that this information won't leave the premises; what's it going to be Mr. Dragneel?"

Natsu walked to the chair and sat down before nodding to Shiro "I'm listening"

* * *

It was early… too early for Lucy; Happy was curled on her belly purring, which she was happy about; she missed her friends breaking into her apartment and jumping on her bed. She had struggled to fall asleep and was only able to manage to get a few hours of rest before waking up to a loud thud outside of her room. She tossed the blankets throwing Happy off the bed, and stomped to the door slamming it open.

"What the hell!"

She blinked a couple of times, Gray had laughed so hard he had let his weight fall onto one of the doors, causing more than one person to wake up and watch a red faced Gajeel still held inside the rune walls in nothing but his boxers.

"SHUT IT ICE PRICK!"

"Morning Gajeel…"

Happy landed on Lucy's head and snickered at the sight "I warned you that you would get in trouble!"

"Shut it cat! Unless you want to become a small carpet!"

"Lucy Help! Gajeel wants to kill me!" She hugged him to her chest and rubbed his ears to calm him down.

"Blondie… Tell Levy to get this shit down! I ain't joking"

"Oh Gajeel, I'm sorry but you are going to have to convince her of that yourself! And what better time than the present… here she comes"

The hall was crowded with mages wearing pajamas, some woke up due to the thud on the door, and some came out after hearing the laughter from their comrades.

"Gajeel…"

"Shrimp! I ain't doing this so you may as well let me out!"

"No"

"No?!"

"No… We are getting ready for council and having breakfast; so, IF you want to starve and let us go by ourselves to hear about Natsu then that's up to you. I mean… what could possibly go wrong if we don't get good news and you are not there… right?" Levy was smirking, she knew how to push his buttons and leaving them to fester by themselves if things didn't work out, it was sure to bother him.

Gajeel stood up and pointed at Levy, he opened his mouth to say something only to close it ; his eye was twitching and he balled his hands before huffing in annoyance. He mumbled something unintelligible "I'm sorry Gajeel, I didn't get that…"

"Tsk...Mhm… Evil shrimp…" He took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm sorry I took her fucking keys alright!" He took a step towards the room but the runes were still there "Hey! I apologized!"

"Oh but I don't think you did it the right way"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Levy smiled and held her hands to her back "Nope"

Gajeel slammed his fists on the rune wall before rubbing his temples "FINE! I want to apologize to… Princess Lucy… and Mistress Levy… for being a complete idiot…"

The whole aisle erupted in laughter at Gajeel's expense earning a growl from the Dragon Slayer "Well that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"I'm going to get you back for that Shrimp…"

Once the rune wall disappeared in took Gajeel two steps to cross the distance between him and Levy; they were about to get into a heated argument when Lucy approached them "Gajeel… can...can I talk to you?"

It threw him off, but he nodded and followed Lucy to her room; he gulped as soon as the door closed and turned to Lucy without saying a word.

"I can't blame you… for helping him… I know I was angry with you, I still am… But I would probably have done something similar if it meant protecting him…"

Gajeel took a deep breath and finally made his way to one of the couches "Look, It's not like I wanted to piss you off ya know? But, the idiot saved Levy so, I kind of owe him big time"

"I know you do; I also know that for some weird bizarre reason despite everything you are good friends"

"Like I could ever be friends with that idiotic fire lizard…"

Lucy giggled a bit "You can say all you want, but at the end of the day, you worry about him and you know it" Lucy sighed "Is being dense and private with your feelings a Dragon Slayer thing? Really… you guys are so complicated"

"Don't compare me with that idiot… I'm not complicated" Lucy stared at him deeply "Oh… so then it didn't take Levy facing her fears to get you two together then, I'm sorry I must have misunderstood"

"Err… no, I mean… Shut up Bunny girl…" Lucy smiled at him but her smile didn't reach her eyes "I just wish he would talk about how he feels, about everything… he is all loyalty, and fights"

"Mhm… We… I dunno…" He took a deep breath before giving her an understanding look "There was no reason to have these conversations before you know? We didn't grow up like you guys did"

"I know… but you guys should have learned already. He didn't talk about Igneel dying, he just went away… He didn't talk about his nightmares, he just went away… AGAIN, nor he talks about his fears, so what am I supposed to do?"

"Dragons shouldn't be afraid of anything. It may not seem like it, talking about him… the idiot runs to danger as if he didn't think about it, but we don't take choices without certainty; he jumps into stuff because he KNOWS he will win… and that's how he approaches everything"

"So, what you are saying is that he didn't talk about his feelings before because he wasn't sure I would respond to them as he wanted?"

"Basically"

"Well that's just infuriating… We've known each other for years now, he knows me better than anyone… he is my best friend. He should know he can trust me"

"You are both infuriating…" Lucy stared at him in annoyance puffing her cheeks, and not understanding where he was getting at "The one person who could defeat him without touching him is you Bunny Girl, a single word could send him crashing down, and if you can't see that, I'm not sure what else to tell you"

Gajeel stood up and walked to the door, but before opening it, he sighed, "There's a reason why you could hear each other back there, the same reason why your dream seemed so real… think about it" He turned enough just to give her half a smile before clearing his throat "Just to clarify I'll deny this conversation ever happened, and claim you've lost your mind…"

Things ran smoothly after that, they all had breakfast making a bit of conversation, however Lucy couldn't help but to keep thinking on what Gajeel had said last. She got lost in her thoughts and ignored the noises around her for a bit.

After so many years as teammates, it was no surprise Happy was the first to notice Lucy was not quite there "Levy, I don't think she is listening to you, she is being all weird again"

"What? Seriously! Lu?...Earth to Lucy" She snapped out at the sight of Levy's hand waving in front of her face.

"I'm sorry Lev, what were you saying?"

"I was just thinking about how Gajeel would get me back from the little stunt I pulled yesterday. What's on your mind Lu? You seem… off"

"Hmm… Ok … so, it's going to sound impossible, but yesterday I heard what Natsu was thinking sometimes and I saw… something…"

"Something like?"

"Ahem… it seemed like a memory, of some sort of a conversation he had with that crazy redhead; it was bad"

Levy decided not to ask about it since it seemed the thought of it had bothered Lucy "I don't think you are going crazy… ahm… Gajeel had mentioned something before, but I didn't consider a good idea telling you at the moment"

"Levy!"

She raised her hands in an apologetic gesture "I'm sorry Lu! But you were so worried!"

"Just tell me, please Levy"

"So… ahm… he said something about how when dragons choose a partner, their magic energy kind of tangles with the person they've chosen" Lucy stared at her in shock "That's not all… it can only happen if the chosen partner loves the dragon back" Levy could see her friends face getting four shades redder than Erza's hair.

"Ahem, wh-what are you saying Levy?"

"She's saying you liiiiiike each other!"

"Shut it! I'll turn you into violin strings!"

"Carla Help! Lucy wants to torture me!" Happy flew away to the ceiling beams to hide behind Carla and Lily, leaving the girls by themselves.

"Lu he also said that bond could be dangerous… he said if the bond was already settled then you could be at risk if something happened to him"

Lucy laid her head on the table "Levy you are being cryptic again…"

"Aw I'm sorry Lu; Gajeel didn't say much about it. I started asking what that meant for us and he said he wouldn't let it happen without my knowledge, and then he started fighting Gray"

"Well, ask him! Please Levy" Lucy stole a page from Natsu's book, and gave her friend the biggest puppy eyes she'd ever seen "Oh Lu… don't do that! I can't ask him now, he's probably still angry at me!" Lucy pouted a little and grabbed her hand "Pleeeeease, you are my best friend Levy" Levy puffed her cheeks and released her hands "FINE! But if he tortures me somehow, I'll get you back some way!"

Lucy was impressed she managed to convince Levy, but she was even more amazed on how the things Natsu used to do all the time worked on someone other than her -Maybe he does it on purpose, and he's actually an evil genius playing dumb… Oh, I am going mad- she laughed at herself for considering such a ridiculous idea.

Once everyone had finished breakfast they made their way to the council; immediately after they entered their land, it was obvious there were more than a few people that disapproved of their presence, starting with the knights and guard.

They walked silently trying to disregard the hateful looks and whispers that were only distinguishable by the Dragon Slayers "Tsk… I'll gladly take them down right now…" Wendy shook her head "Don't make it worse…"

They entered a room that was similar to the one they've almost destroyed the day before, from the semi-circle of seating arrangements, the windows and the witness stand; this one however had no runes, no grid, or protection.

"Erza...Is it just me or is this a bit… suspicious?" Gray was tensing up little by little; after all, they all expected to be greeted by the full force of the council.

"Indeed… It is" Erza crossed her arms and huffed "Gray… could you PLEASE leave your clothes on while in the council"

"God Dammit!"

"Juvia got Gray's shirt off the floor… not that you need any help anyways…"

"Come on! How many times do I need to say I'm sorry?" Gray stretched his hand towards Juvia, she hesitated for a bit but finally she took it "Just a couple more times…" He smiled at her "As many as you need me to"

Soon all noise died down when the doors from the back opened up revealing the council members following their current leader "Please take a sit"

Despite being wary about the situation they all complied and waited for the council's decision. The tension in the room was so dense it could've been cut with a knife; everyone was ready for the best and the worst. Lucy had a hand on her keys, Gray's hands were held together discreetly, Levy had her pen ready, and Erza had a loose grip on her sword.

"Jailor… Please allow Mr. Dragneel to join us" Natsu walked in looking almost the same as the day before, but Lucy could tell there was something in his eyes; it was a mix between acceptance, relief, and sadness.

"Master Makarov, you should know that I've previously discussed this arrangement with Mr. Dragneel and he's come to accept the terms that will be discussed today"

The guild was less than happy to hear this, they were sure Natsu was not in his right mind and was in no condition to accept their terms. His friends stared at him hoping he'll face them and smile in a relaxed way to let them know everything would be ok, but his eyes remained glued to the council.

"As you know, before your… intrusion… Mr. Dragneel had declared himself guilty of kidnap, murder, and arson; however, in light of the new findings, we understand that he was not only almost led to insanity, but also that the plan of some council members was for him to not get a fair treatment; that's something I can't condone"

Shiro immediately noticed some faces in the audience relaxing "However, we can't be sure of the fact that Mr. Dragneel is not a danger to himself or others… which is why we've come to the following conclusion; He will be allowed to go back to Magnolia with the condition of not using his magic at all for the next six months"

A few gasps were heard from the back, of course not being able to use your magic for a bit in exchange for freedom was not as bad as being executed, but they had never seen him without using his magic, even for a little.

"What do you include as using his magic? He is after all a Dragon Slayer" Erza was firmly staring at the council hoping the answer was not as bad as she thought it was.

"Well Ms. Scarlett, we consider everything; this goes from lighting one single finger, to transforming into his demon form, or eating any kind of fire since his body uses his magic to metabolize it"

Sting balled his fists in anger "Wait now! You are going to starve him! Do you know what could happen to a Dragon Slayer without eating his element even for a month?!" Rogue quickly got next to him and held him down "He's right, it's inhumane"

"Be that as it may, Dragon Slayers become stronger when feeding on their element, and at this point this is something we can't allow. Mr. Dragneel will survive on food, so calling it starvation is a bit harsh"

"You don't know what is like!"

Natsu stood up and turned to Sting giving him an angry look "I've already agreed to it; the decision has been made, so, put a cork on it" He shook his head and sat down, but the anxiety remained deep inside his chest.

"If he fails to comply… the details of the case will be released to the public, and he will surrender to the council or be hunted by them. Along with that he will be receiving periodic visits by a telepath chosen by the council to review his advances and state of mind"

Natsu stood up and walked giving his back to the council before kneeling "I'm ready old man, let's get this over with"

"Very well… Jailor, please proceed"

A tall round man walked towards Natsu holding a contraption of some sort; it looked like two semi circles joined by one end and open at the other. He stood behind Natsu and placed it on his neck before closing the other end. The clicking sound of it closing made Natsu's brows twitch "Just do it" that's the only thing he said before his face contorted in pain with the final touch.

"What are you doing to him?!" Lucy almost ran towards him but was stopped my Makarov "There's nothing we can do now"

Once it was over, Natsu was panting but otherwise well; he stood up and rubbed the back of his neck hissing when his hand touched a sore spot.

"Nothing has been done to him that he didn't agree to Ms. Heartfilia. The item around his neck is imbedded with different sorts of magic along with a Lacrima that will inform us of his whereabouts and will set off an alarm if he uses magic. This is connected directly between his sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae which will ultimately allow us to incapacitate him if he tries to evade the council"

"Incapacitate him? That could kill him! Are you mad!?"

"It could, but most likely wouldn't although even if he is a Dragon slayer I doubt he could move a finger after the shock to his nervous system. This could, of course, end badly for him if he ever chooses to go rogue again, paralysis, loss of nerve control or even speech, just to name a few. Now with this we considered this session closed, I'll have a word with Mr. Dragneel in my chamber before his departure; please wait patiently outside of the premises"

Natsu followed Shiro to one of the doors, once it closed the council member turned to Natsu; before he could say anything Natsu held his finger on his mouth signaling him to stay in silence until he was told otherwise.

* * *

Outside people were growing impatient, different groups of mages were scattered discussing the events and providing their opinion to the council's ruling. Lucy was pacing from one side to the next rapidly holding a sobbing Happy to her chest; her eyes were lost and her thoughts were scattered.

"Lucy you are going to make a ditch" Gray held Lucy's shoulders and rubbed them with his thumbs "It's going to be ok"

"How is it going to be ok? It's Natsu we are talking about! He can't go six months without his magic! Hell, he can't even go through breakfast without burning something up!"

"Indeed he can't, in all honesty I'm worried about that myself" Erza had joined them as soon as he saw Gray holding her "But we'll have to make sure he does, the consequences are too great"

"But guys! Natsu uses his magic for everything! How is he going to work, or eat, or be Natsu?" The blue cat was extremely worried about his friend; he hadn't been with him for months now and was afraid of this changing him too much.

"Don't worry about it" Gray rubbed Happy's ear "We'll help out, anyways you usually don't keep your reward, you guys always end up paying damage or giving it to Lucy with rent! So, how about you come to a few missions and take your reward in full?"

"Aye! I could help Natsu just as much as he has helped me!"

"That's the attitude Happy!"

They noticed Wendy and Gajeel getting closer to them along with Sting and Rogue "He's coming!" Wendy was excited about her friend coming home despite the circumstances.

Slowly they noticed him walking towards them, but he wasn't alone. Lucy pursed her hips when she noticed the tall, redheaded woman walking closely next to Natsu "I thought she was gone…"

"I think we all did…" Erza's held her sword tightly.

Natsu's pace slowed down even more as if he wasn't looking forward to meeting his friends; he stopped in his tracks before Meryl held his hand to her chest and said something to him, he gave her a half smile and nodded before continuing his way; the sight made Lucy's blood boil.

"Hey…Guys… I… Thanks for everything, but can we not talk about this for now? I…" Merryl grabbed his arm "He just needs time, ok?"

"So is he not able to speak for himself? Or is that your new mission now?" the poison in Lucy's voice was so strong that even Cobra would have been thrown to the ground.

"I can speak perfectly fine Luce, I do need time and she is just trying to help, ok?"

"Oh I think she's helped quite enough" Lucy turned on her heel and walked away. Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, hissing again at the sharp pain on it "I think I'm not the only one that will need time"

* * *

*In Shiro's office*

Natsu followed Shiro to one of the doors, once it closed the council member turn to Natsu; before he could say anything Natsu held his finger on his mouth signaling him to stay in silence until he was told otherwise.

"Ok, it should be safe now"

"What was that about?"

"Old man! You have 5 other Dragon Slayers in the room and believe me their hearing is not to be taken lightly"

"Do you think they will pose a problem?"

"Nah, I'll handle them…"

"You need to be certain; you won't succeed if they find out about what you are doing"

"It'll be fine… can I… at least talk to Lucy about this? I've hurt her enough already… If I do this and it works out I'm not sure she'll forgive me"

"You can't tell her, getting her involved will just endanger her. I highly doubt after all you did to protect her you would take that risk now"

"This is going to suck…"

"It certainly will, but if you manage to complete your end… in six months you'll have your life back and Earthland will be a better place"

"You don't really think I'll have my life back once everyone knows the things I've done… do you?"

"I'll do the best I can to make sure you do, but…"

"But there are no guarantees… I know. How long do I have before shit hits the fan?"

"No more than two months"

Natsu nodded with new determination, this would be the way to end things with the least possible damage. He was worried about Lucy but hoped she'll eventually forgive him for everything; he wasn't aware of the bond he shared with her, and thought listening to her voice had been a moment of mental weakness and nothing else. Little did he know that she was aware now of the bond and he would have a hard time keeping any secrets from her.


	22. Chapter 22

**HEY GUYS! So... I took some time to rest since it was kind of my bday (Kind of... my bday only exists once every 4 years so... yup) but I prepared an extra long chapter to demonstrate I was not being lazy about the updates XD, also Chapter 4 has been updated so please check out the details there. Thanks for reading! Please R &R. **

**-A-**

* * *

 **If no pain, then no love. If no darkness, no light. If no risk, then no reward. It's all or nothing. In this damn world, it's all or nothing.**

 **\- Glennon Doyle Melton -**

* * *

Natsu's pace slowed down even more as if he wasn't looking forward to meeting his friends; he stopped in his tracks before Merryl held his hand to her chest and said something to him, he gave her a half smile and nodded before continuing his way; the sight made Lucy's blood boil.

"Hey…Guys… I… Thanks for everything, but can we not talk about this for now? I…" Merryl grabbed his arm "He just needs time, ok?"

"So is he not able to speak for himself? Or is that your new mission now?" the poison in Lucy's voice was so strong that even Cobra would have been thrown to the ground.

"I can speak perfectly fine Luce, I do need time and she is just trying to help, ok?"

"Oh I think she's helped quite enough" Lucy turned on her heel and walked away. Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, hissing again at the sharp pain on it "I think I'm not the only one that will need time"

Everyone tried to look away from the scene, but it was hard to avoid; Mira looked incredibly

disappointed and pouted while looking at the floor.

"Hey, you look like someone kicked your puppy… What's up with that face?"

"Oh Laxus, am I the only one who expected a movie-like scene here?"

"What the hell are you talking about Mira?"

"Yeah you know… like them running in slow motion, Lucy landing on his arms while he swirled her around, stopping only to kiss her! And then a wedding, OH by Mavis the babies they would have!" You could practically see the little hearts in her eyes and the stars above her head.

"Ok woman… snap out of it" Mira gave Laxus an angry look "They just lost their rhythm; they haven't seen each other in a long time… so it'll take time for them to adjust. She is very stubborn, he is very… slow"

Mira nodded and took a deep breath "You're right… let's just hope that redheaded succubus over there doesn't make things harder"

* * *

After witnessing the unexpected scene between Natsu and Lucy, the guild started walking back, not really knowing if to cheer for the return of their friend or letting him be. Natsu was walking back along with Merryl, while Lucy was all the way to the front of the group in a fast pace.

Gray was getting a bit tired of this, and his lack of patience started to get the best of him "I've had it! I'm going to go beat some sense into that thick skull of his!" He was about to turn back to get to him when a soft hand grabbed him by the arm.

"My darling, you will do no such thing"

"Juvia! Someone needs to go snap some sense into him"

"I agree… but not you"

"Why the hell not!?"

Erza stood close enough to hear and she decided to join in "Because you will most likely end up in a fight with Natsu, and he can't lose control now, remember?"

"Oi! We ain't kids you know?" Both females looked at each other with a big sweat drop on their foreheads "Fine! Point taken! What do you suggest?"

"Gray-sama, you can go talk to Lucy, and Juvia will go talk to Natsu"

"Tsk… Fine…" Gray ran to the front of the group where Lucy was, to pull her away. Just as he made it there, he discovered that he had no idea what to say to her. He thought that with Natsu it would have been easy; they would butt heads, call each other names and eventually during the argument, a few truth bombs would come out.

Juvia turned on her heel and walked to the back where Natsu was talking to Merryl, she apparently interrupted a conversation since they both got silent as soon as she approached them.

"Natsu, I need to have a word with you in private"

"Hey… Hi Juvia, I…" He was interrupted by the short fuse girl next to him "He said he didn't want to talk, drippy, can't you take a hint?"

Natsu raised his brows and silently mumbled to himself -Holy shit- "Oh, you seem to be confused, this wasn't a question… and even if it was, it wasn't meant for you" Despite of the snarky comment, Juvia's face was relaxed.

"Any matter involving Pyro over here, involves me for the time being" Natsu could feel things were quickly getting out of hand when he noticed Juvia's eyes. Ever since she had joined the family, her look was sweeter, more human and warm; but this stare reminded him of her time as part of the element five.

"I'll ask nicely one more time, this is a family matter, and you are NOT family"

"OK! Let's stop right now! Merryl… go over there and do… whatever" She stomped her foot and crossed her arms like a little kid "But Natsu!" He sighed and looked at her with an angry stare "But nothing; Juvia is family and if you want to tag along you are going to learn to respect my family, is that clear?" Merryl stomped to the other side and kept walking with an angry pout.

"So-Sorry Juvia" He rubbed the back of his head with an attempt of a smile, not quite the one he always had on him.

"It's ok, so… I need to thank you"

"Why?" Juvia held her hands on her back and smiled "Gray told me what you did for him"

"Beat the shit out of him?" He smiled again "Anytime Juvia"

She giggled and covered her mouth with her hand "Why do you always act like you have no idea of what's going on? And don't you dare give me that very well practiced confused puppy look face" Natsu opened his mouth several times just to close it again without saying a thing.

"Natsu… Can I tell you something?" Natsu chewed the inside of his cheek, not sure if it was something he wanted to hear, but still he smiled at her "Shoot!"

"You haven't seen each other for over three months Natsu, and when you finally meet... you make her angry?"

He crossed his arms above his chest, and pouted childishly "I don't even know why she is angry! She just snapped!"

"Well… Juvia knows Lucy is not fond of your current companion, she did put you guys through a lot"

"So? I mean… so did I... I knocked you guys out, I burned a house… not that I haven't done that before" He smiled a bit at his own statement before he frowned "and what I did… not only to him… but to her… I…"

Juvia stopped him and grabbed his arm to pull him to face her "You did what you had to do to protect the people you love, we know that. You saved Lucy, Lisanna, Levy… and myself, we owe you too much"

"Well… I owe Merryl too…" he sighed "If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have known how to save you guys, I mean that… and I also kind of… tried to kill her… twice, so…"

"I get that… but… Juvia thinks that Lucy doesn't like the fact that she looks really cozy with you"

"Oh…" The last months had been so confusing, that he had forgotten until that moment all about the day Merryl walked to the guild, practically announcing their rendezvous in the forest -Well, it wasn't going to stay a secret -. He cleared his throat "W-why would she be angry about that?"

Juvia sighed "Look, if you don't want to drop the boyish act that's fine, but please think about how she has been suffering over you for the last three months"

"Tsk… she hasn't been the only one Juvia"

"I know… but both of you are getting away from each other to avoid the situation, and your friend over there is not going to help you a bit in patching things up with Lucy"

Natsu raised his arms to put them behind his head, but grunted in pain and grabbed his side, which was still sore from his time with Arlo; Juvia immediately grabbed his arm "Are you ok?" He shook her off "I'm fine" Juvia gave him a concerned look, "I'll call Wendy over" She took a step forward, but he grabbed her wrist "Don't, I said I'm fine Juvia" she nodded and walked back to Erza, although her concern didn't fade away.

* * *

After an incredibly awkward silence with the Celestial mage, he finally opened his mouth "Hey, Lucy" Gray had started talking before even knowing where the conversation would lead, and stayed silent for some time before deciding to wing it "Er… so, how are you doing?"

She rolled her eyes "Fine, what can I do for you?" Gray kept opening and closing his mouth without making a sound "OH BY MAVIS! Just say what you have to say Gray!"

-Damn it, she is becoming as scary as Erza…- "So, I know you are a bit… angry" Lucy huffed and crossed her arms "Ok, you are very angry, but… can't you just talk to him?"

Lucy stopped in her tracks and turned towards him, she poked his chest hard enough for him to flinch again "SURE! As soon as the devil's mistress leaves his side"

"Lucy, we don't even know why she came back with him! Come on, be reasonable!"

"Reasonable? Gray there's nothing reasonable about this situation! Things… are just... too complicated!"

"Then uncomplicate them! You spent three months with a guy against your will, he spent three months going crazy until he snapped and took it upon himself to save you, then you decided it was your turn to save him and you faced the council… the letter said he loved you, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it's just... "

"What?!"

"Every time we grow close it's because something bad happened… every time we are close to dying, losing each other, the one time we kissed was so…"

"Wait, back up a little… you kissed?" Gray was now smirking and raising his brow at Lucy.

Lucy blushed and her eyes went wide "Oh… I… thought… yeah" she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and she rubbed her right arm right where the scar would be if Wendy hadn't been there.

"It was a few days before… it all happened, but the kiss was so… full of pain" tears started accumulating in the corners of her eyes "It was the day he found out I was with Fukuro, I made him believe I wanted to get married, and he kind of just…"

"He went for it… of course; he had to wait until the eleventh hour… classic fire-brains"

"Anyways… he... lost control for a bit and clawed my arm"

"He did what!?" Gray fisted his hands which Lucy noticed right away "Hey! He didn't mean to, you know he was out of it" She waited for him to nod before continuing "You should have seen the look on his face… like I was made of glass and he had shattered me. I knew what his nightmare was Gray… and I had to keep him away from this… so I…"

"So, you used my one true fear to break me" Lucy was startled by the sound of his voice and turned quickly only to see him standing there with a serious look on his face; no smile, no glow in his eyes.

"Natsu… I"

"And you decided that it was best to tell Frosty first" he directed a cold look at Gray while pointing his finger.

"I… let me explain"

"It's ok Luce, you did what you had to do, and so did I; don't worry about it" He gave her a big toothy smile and turned, but Lucy dashed and stood in front of him "Wait, let's just talk, ok?" He looked away still trying to smile and he tried to move only to be blocked by her again.

"Luce… please, just… I'm fine ok? I promise we'll talk once we get home, just… let me go for now"

Lucy held the front of his vest "Let's talk now" he sighed and allowed their eyes to meet, that's when she noticed the pain; he was smiling, there was no particular sign of his behavior changing, but his eyes showed something raw, deep, and painful. She released her grip and sobbed, "When we get home then?" he ruffled her hair "It's a promise"; that's the last thing he said before moving to the back of the group.

They went back to the Inn deciding not to travel until the next day, despite of Natsu's objections. He had chosen to go back to his room to get some rest and no one questioned him since they assumed the last few days hadn't been exactly vacations for him. No one had dared to ask what had happened to him inside the council building yet.

He went back to his room, and decided to take a shower; he didn't remember when was the last time he had taken one; sure, he honestly didn't do it daily but even he could tell it was overdue. He took his shoes by the door, and dragged his feet to the bathroom, once there he grabbed his vest and as soon as he try to pull it off, he felt the pain cruising through his body.

His wounds were still semi fresh when he left the council, and with all the walking, sun, and movement his clothes were now sticking to the open cuts on his side and back. He took a deep breath, and placed his hands on the sink.

"Ok, the side is worse off than the back… so easy choice then" he took his right arm off the vest slowly, and gave a small pull to test the pain, he immediately hissed but didn't stop pulling until his back was free. He placed one hand on his skin right next to the wound on his left side to try to relieve the pressure, and gripped his vest to the other.

"Ok, there's no way around it, just like a Band-Aid" He practically had to peel the vest off his skin, sending a second bolt of pain through his body "Mother F… argh!" He placed his hand on his side while he panted over the sink; he felt himself going dizzy but balanced his weight and was able to maintain his stand.

A few minutes passed before he was able to stand up straight and observe himself in the mirror; the wounds that had been semi fresh were now oozing blood and liquid and dripping on his pants, he had a burst lip, a cut underneath his semi black eye, and a bunch of bruises on his torso, but this was not the worse he'd looked.

"Well… What you gonna do, right?" He smiled at the mirror; he had kept the determination to smile throughout the years just as he had promised long ago, but even he knew it was getting harder. (See update in Ch4 if you want to understand the reference).

He got the scalding hot water running and he slowly made his way inside the shower. As soon as the hot water touched his skin there was a searing burning pain that cause him to lay his hands on the wall in front of him, holding on to it so hard that the mosaic cracked under the pressure of his hands. Natsu stayed there for quite some time, for some reason there was a sense of peace that accompanied the physical pain.

He got off the shower and almost used his powers to dry himself off until he remembered he couldn't, not for now. He took a towel and removed the excess water off his hair, and patted the rest of his body as well, being a bit more careful with his injuries.

Natsu was tired; he didn't even bother to remove the bloody towel and clothes from the floor. He walk towards a small bag Happy had brought for him and took a pair of dark pants and a shirt before going to bed.

He rested on his belly and hugged the pillow trying to sleep, and although it took a few hours for him to manage to close his eyes, he was finally drifting away. A few seconds after, the nightmares made their way into his mind.

Lucy was standing in a dark room, her hair was loose, and she wore a mid tight dress the color of the sky; she held her hands to her chest, searching with her eyes for someone. He walked closer to her and as soon as she heard the steps, she turned to him and gave him a big smile, that smile that was meant only for him; it was almost as if golden light was making her shine.

He felt his heart skip a bit and felt happy, she was there waiting for him! It was clear now, and he couldn't help but run to her; this time he was able to catch up, this time she didn't flinch nor looked afraid by his presence and he let himself feel hope.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest tightly, but he suddenly felt her go limp, he opened his eyes and the light around her was gone; Natsu released his grip to look at her face, but her head fell back, her eyes were grayed out and her arms were just hanging lifeless on her sides.

He felt desperation sinking in, he had barely touched her; he shook her carefully and whispered her name hoping she would come back to him, he rubbed her cheek with his hands gently still repeating her name. He knelt still holding her lifeless body and cried over her, and as soon as his hot tears hit her face, she burst into flames and was consumed by his fire. It only took a few minutes for her body to become ashes and fly into the wind leaving him alone in the dark room of his mind, not looking like him anymore, but as the demon he had been afraid to embrace.

Natsu woke up panting and holding his chest, he knew his body temperature had started to rise and realized while he could probably do a decent job containing his power while he was awake, nights would be a completely different challenge.

"Well… No more sleep until I figure this out" He got out of bed and put his shoes back on, he didn't know what time it was, but at this point, it didn't really matter.

He walked down the stairs and went to the bar of the Inn, where he noticed Happy sleeping on a table where Cana and Macao were still having a few drinks.

"Hey Natsu! Care to join us?"

"Sure thing, how long have you been drinking?"

"Pff who keeps track of that!"

Natsu smiled, for some reason this normal Cana behavior gave him peace, after all, there are some things that never change.

"I guess I have some catching up to do then" He walked to the bar and asked the bartender for a bottle of whiskey and a cup, which gained him a quizzical stare from the man.

"You mean a glass of whiskey sir?"

"Nah, I meant a bottle, and a glass. Unless that's a problem?"

The bartender shook his head and smiled at Natsu while he gave him both items and watched him as he walked back to the table.

"Natsu, we have plenty of alcohol for us here, we don't need any more" Macao said while raising his eyebrow at Natsu. Sure, they would drink often, but Natsu had never been a heavy drinker anyways, and there was only a handful of times in which he had participated in Cana's crazy drinking dares.

"Who said I'm sharing?" Natsu poured himself a glass and drank it fully; he then proceeded to drink the second one. He drank the first four like that and after the fifth, he started taking it slower.

Cana played with her glass and looked at him "Trouble sleeping?" Natsu smiled and circled the rim of the glass with his finger "Yeah, I guess I miss the cold stone bed" he took another sip of his glass and moved his hand to rub Happy's ear "Hey Bud?"

"Mhm...Natsu?"

"Hey Buddy" Natsu gave him a big toothy smile "Come on, you can't stay on the table the whole night, ok?" Happy nodded and flew slowly towards the stairs leaving the mages behind.

Happy opened the door to the room; all the lights were off with the exemption of the bathroom.

"I should brush my teeth; Lucy said I had to before going to bed!" He rubbed his eyes with his fury paws and went straight to the bathroom where he was a bit startled by the sight. He descended and took the bloody towel on his paws and held it in front of him "Oh…" his eyes watered a bit before laying the towel on the side and picking up the discarded clothes that had similar stains.

He cleaned the tears of his face with the back of his paw and flew to the sink where he saw the marks of two bloody palm shaped stains "What should I do…?" He pondered on going to Lucy, but he knew well things were weird with them; he was worried that if he talked to her, things would not get better between his best friends.

Happy left the room and flew to the last door from the aisle, he opened it slowly trying to avoid making any sounds until he got to the foot of the bed, and he did his best to whisper "Hey… Lilly, wake up" he had to shake the black exceed a bit before he noticed his eyes started to open.

"What are you doing here? It's late"

"I know… I just… I need help"

"Unless there's someone dying Happy… it can wait until morning" Lily crawled back to his place and closed his eyes before he heard Happy's whimper, he rubbed his paw on his forehead and sat up "What?"

"Please Lilly… "The black exceed could tell something was worrying his friend, so he decided to comply "What happened?"

"I need to show you something I found in my room" Both exceeds flew out the door silently; however Gajeel had noticed the moment Happy entered the room and decided to follow along as soon as they left.

Once inside the room, Happy showed Lily the drenched clothes and towel "What in the name of Mavis! He wasn't bleeding when we got him, was he?"

"I… don't think so, we would have noticed right?"

"Fucking Salamander…" both exceeds turned to find Gajeel with his arms crossed against his chest "Where is he?"

"Oh… he is downstairs in the bar, with Cana and Macao" Gajeel nodded and sighed "Lilly, go back to the room and stay with Levy, Happy, stop worrying about Salamander, I'll go get him" both exceeds nodded and observed as Gajeel crossed the door and left their sight.

He walked downstairs and saw him sitting at the same table with Cana and Macao; however, the last two were already sleeping using their arms as a pillow. Gajeel walked and took the bottle from the table.

"Oi! What are you doing, give it back"

"What am I doing? What are you doing idiot! You are supposed to be resting"

"I…" he was cut off before finishing "Oh let me guess! You are fine?" Natsu huffed in annoyance "Yeah, that's right"

Gajeel fisted his hand and nudge Natsu on his left side causing him to bend a bit from the pain "Yeah, you are fine! That's why your damn cat is crying over your bloody stuff in the middle of the night!"

Natsu's eyes widen "Oh fuck…" he stood up, took the bottle from Gajeel's hands and started walking upstairs; the Iron Dragon Slayer shook his head and turned to follow his comrade, he stopped at the door frame when he heard Natsu talking to Happy.

"Stop crying bud!"

"But you are hurt! Why won't you let Wendy see you?"

"I'm telling you I'm fine, why would I want to wake Wendy up at this time over such a small thing?"

"Well… it doesn't seem small" Happy pointed at the drenched items that had been forgotten in the bathroom a few hours before.

"That… looks worse than what it is ok?"

"Do you promise?"

"I do! Have I ever lied to you?" his signature grin made his way to his face which caused the sorrow in the blue cat's heart to fade a little "Ok, but you need to let Wendy see you tomorrow"

Natsu rubbed the back of his head and laughed "Fine! You've got it bud. How about we get some sleep now?" Happy nodded and made his way to the pillow, it only took him a few minutes to fall asleep.

"You have something to say Gajeel?"

"Why is it not healing normally?"

"It is healing normally, which is abnormal, to us… may I remind you that I used a bunch of magic when I… anyways… I'm drenched, not much I can do at this point"

"Mhm… ok, I'm leaving then, don't bleed to death… It'll be a mess to clean up in the morning"

"Sure thing" Natsu stood up and walked to the door, before Gajeel pushed his hand against his chest "I thought you were going to sleep".

"Can't" Gajeel waited for him to elaborate; Natsu rolled his eyes and huffed "Because I can't control what I do when I sleep, and I can't use my powers. Anything else Mother Gajeel?"

"Tsk… fucking punk…" Gajeel left while clenching his fists; any other day he would have punched Salamander right on the face, however he knew this would be taking advantage of the unfortunate situation the Fire Dragon Slayer was experiencing. In the back of Gajeel's mind, he found the whole situation to be suspicious, so he decided he would keep a close eye on the mage.

Natsu dedicated the night to pacing the halls of the Inn, sitting at the bar, and looking down the window to avoid falling victim to sleep and tiredness.

The next morning they had to depart to return to Magnolia, everyone had their things ready to go to the train station; aside from the obvious pouting from all Dragon Slayers, things seemed to start falling back into place little by little. Sting and Rogue had decided to walk back to avoid the motion sickness, however they accompanied Fairy tail to the train station to say their goodbyes.

"W-why can't I just walk back? Sting and Rogue are doing it!" Natsu refused to stand from the bench at the station already looking a bit green just from the thought of that deadly contraption.

"Because the Master is being held responsible for you, we can't let you out of our sight" Erza, trying to be more empathetic tried to reason with him.

"Well then we should all walk back!"

"Ugh" Erza covered her face with one hand and rested the other one on her hip "Get up!"

"NO!" he held to the bench as if his life depended on it.

"Natsu…" her eyes darkened, she gritted her teeth and gripped her sword "Are you going to make me force you in the train?"

He gulped and stared at her "N-No ma'am" She relaxed a bit after listening to him and smiled, "Well, then… get... up"

He stood and dragged his feet all the way to the entrance trying to figure a way out all the way to the door, he stopped for a minute deciding whether or not to make a run for it when Merryl hugged his arm and pulled him inside "Hey lover boy! We don't want to be late, do we?" the redheaded nightmare had been glued to him since leaving the council, but despite that, she was unaware of his motion sickness; he whined and pouted all the way to their cabin.

She sat in front of him, and stretched her legs to rest them on his lap.

"Get off!" she smirked at him "Make me". He pushed her feet off only to have her do it again and again "Fuck Merryl, cut it out!" in that moment the door of their compartment opened to reveal Gray and Juvia, followed by Lucy.

Gray rushed and sat opposite to Natsu pulling Juvia with him leaving her next to Merryl; Mavis knew his girlfriend was the jealous type and he didn't want to disturb her by sitting next to her; however, he was still unaware of what had transpired between them the day before.

Natsu looked at Lucy's decisive stare as she sat next to him.

"Hey Luce…"

She looked at him and patted her lap "Come on, you know the drill"

"Nu uh, I'll be ok…"

Merryl gave her a deathly stare "Oh for crying out loud! You are such a floozy! Could you throw yourself at him a little more?"

A second, that's how long it took for Natsu to grab her wrist with his right hand "Call her that… one more time Merryl"

"But she's just trying to…" she was immediately cut off "She is trying to be helpful, and she knows me; what did I say about disrespecting my family?" he released her hand and rested his head on the window, still refusing to rest his head of Lucy's lap.

Lucy smiled and stretched her arms "It's ok Natsu… you can say no now, but once it starts running..." almost as if the train had been summoned, it started moving causing Natsu to whine and roll in his seat.

"What is happening to him!?" Merryl was sure he was either sick or dying.

Lucy just giggled; she grabbed Natsu by the shoulders and laid his head on her lap "There, there… isn't this better?" she started rubbing his temples and caressing his soft pink hair along his scalp causing him to relax and practically purr.

Natsu relaxed so much he fell asleep, and he suddenly turned his face to cuddle against Lucy's belly and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What exactly are you doing to him?" Merryl was pouting again; it seemed this would be her regular face from the remainder of the trip.

"Soothing him… I always do this for him when we travel" she gave the redhead a cocky smile before brushing his face with her fingers. After half an hour Lucy cradled his face and whispered, "I need to go to the bathroom, I'll be back soon ok?" she stood up carefully and moved his head to rest on the cushions.

She entered the small bathroom and took care of her necessities; she was washing her hands and looking at herself in the mirror "I'll fix this, I've got this! That ridiculous crazy woman won't know what hit her!" as it turned out, Lucky Lucy Heartfilia was right, the poor crazy and clingy read head didn't see it coming.

"EEEEEEEEEEEKKK!" That's what Lucy heard followed by uncontained laugher and a thud. She opened the door to find Merryl's face so red that almost match the color of her hair.

"MOVE BLONDIE!" she pushed Lucy out of the bathroom. The celestial mage kept walking angry and confused "What's wrong with that woman!?"; she opened their cabin door to find Gray and Juvia rolling on the floor.

"What the hell happened!?"

"OH LUCY! It was magical! She tried to do the same thing you did with Natsu!" he was still laughing hysterically and took a deep breath before continuing, "He fucking barfed on her!"

Lucy tried not to laugh but it was impossible, she held one hand to her stomach and covered her mouth with the other one "Well… serves her right!" She cradled Natsu's head again and sat on the cushion before going back to rubbing his temples.

"Gray darling, Juvia is going to borrow a book from Levy"

"Ok, don't take long" he smiled and squished the hand of the water mage causing her to blush. She opened the door and got on her way.

"My, my… you are all cotton candy and roses"

"Am not!" Lucy giggled as she noticed him blushing "It's nice to see you guys like that". Lucy noticed Natsu struggling in his sleep and squinting his eyes, she touched his forehead with the back of her hand.

"Uhmm Gray? Natsu feels a bit warm"

"So? Flame-brain is always a bit hot"

"No, no I mean he feels a little warm for Natsu standards"

"Well… I don't think there's much to worry about"

* * *

Juvia got into Levy's compartment and smiled when she found Gajeel in a similar state to Natsu's "Hi Levy!"

"Hey Juvia! What's up?"

"Do you have any book I can borrow?"

"Umm yeah! You see that bag?" Levy pointed at a carry-on she had on the space above the seats "There are some books there, take whichever you like"

"Thanks!" Juvia browsed through the bag until she found a book she was interested in.

"Hey, so what was all the noise about?" Juvia laughed, "Lucy was soothing Natsu, and when she left Merryl tried to so the same"

"I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

"Unless you count Natsu throwing up on you as good, no, it didn't" both mage snickered at the comment "Anyways, Merryl left to clean herself up, and now that Lucy is back, Natsu was able to go back to sleep" Gajeel flinched before Juvia continued "Anyways, Thanks for the book!" and with that, Juvia went back to Gray.

Gajeel struggled and pushed himself up "Wake him up"

"Gajeel? Why would we wake him up? No! He needs to rest!"

He was about to speak when a bump in the rails threw him back on the ground and caused him to whine. Gajeel was barely able to pull himself up and drag himself as much as he could, holding onto the wall.

"What are you doing!?"

"Shrimp! Wake him… up"

She puffed her cheeks "You are being impossible! Come on, let's go back…"

"God Dammit Levy! Wake him up!" Gajeel pulled himself until he got to Natsu's compartment to find him shifting on Lucy's lap. He grabbed him from his vest and pulled him up before a second bump threw both Dragon Slayers to the ground one above the other.

"Get off Gajeel!" Natsu was barely able to focus his eyes "What the hell!"

Gajeel put his hand on his mouth to avoid getting sick before taking a deep breath "You… fell asleep"

Natsu's eyes immediately widen before trying to focus his eyes to observe around him, he saw everyone was ok and touched the contraption on his neck to make sure everything was in order.

"Gajeel! Can you please explain what you're doing?" Levy had both hands on her hips and was giving him an angry stare; he looked back at Natsu and shook his head "It ain't my business Shrimp"

"Well it sure as hell didn't matter if it wasn't your business when you made your way here, did it?"

"That's different" Levy stomped her foot "Why?"

Natsu took a deep breath, rested his head on the wall and closed his eyes "Because I can't be allowed to sleep… and he knows it… not until we get home and I figure this out"

Lucy knelt next to him and grabbed his shoulders "Why?"

"Because… If I sleep… I'll dream… and when I do, I'll get nightmares… and I can barely avoid using magic if I'm awake Luce…" Lucy remained in silence; he had finally shown a bit of vulnerability while facing the fact this was a no-way-out situation, and for her it was shocking.

They had been partners and best friends for years, and he had always displayed himself as confident, cocky, childish and unbeatable; if there was something the guild knew, is that even in the hardest, deadliest situation, at the end of it all... no one could defeat Fairy Tail's Salamander, the Fire Dragon Slayer, Son of the Fire Dragon King.

This type of vulnerability was new for her; he was looking away to not meet her eyes while the rest of the few present mages stared at him in an equally shocked fashion, all except for Gajeel, that is, who was trying to compose himself on the floor and was not shocked at all by any of this.

Lucy realized at that moment why Natsu hadn't been open about the situation; she thought about the weight he probably felt on his shoulders all the time, and how hard it must be for him to always keep his relaxed demeanor. She understood, he brought hope… why else would the guild risk going to war with the council? He was a hero in everyone's eyes.

"Natsu…" She noticed him tightening his fists; he would still not look at her. She kneeled next to him, and grabbed his neck before wrapping him with her arms and making him rest his weight on her. It took a few minutes but he relaxed and wrapped his arms on her weight.

"Guys… can you give us a minute? Please…" They all nodded, Gray picked Gajeel from the floor and took him out, followed by Levy and Happy before Juvia closed the door on her way out.

She breathed his scent, it was spicy like cinnamon and forest breeze; she rubbed his nape and ran her fingers on his hair when she noticed him tightening his grip and releasing a sob so small that it was almost impossible to hear.

"It's ok…" he held his breath trying to avoid the tears that threaten to come sooner or later "Just let go… I'm here, I'll always be here for you. I'm ok…"

"Luce… I…" He couldn't hold it anymore, he hid his face in her chest, she felt his warm tears falling down on her while she rubbed soothing circles on his back. The moment didn't last long before a bump on the way triggered his motion sickness "I feel like shit…"

Lucy giggle and smacked his forehead lightly "If you throw up on me too I'll Lucy kick you all the way to Magnolia!"

"Buuuut Luuuuuceee" she cradled his face and rested her forehead on his. He breathed her scent, he'd always thought she had the sweetest smell in the world; it reminded him of wild vanilla flowers and lavender.

-She is so close… man why do I need to feel like this, this woman is going to kill me… stop staring, stop staring. Man… those lips, why does she need to have the perfect lips! Why can't they just be regular unappealing lips! NO they need to be plump and pink, and look so soft!- While Natsu was rambling in his mind, Lucy blushed; she could hear everything he thought but had managed to keep her own thoughts to herself.

They both gulped and stayed in silence for a bit, before Lucy felt brave enough to break the silence.

"I'll help you stay awake… but as soon as we get home we need to look for a solution. I know you are strong but you can't be awake for six months"

"I know… It would be much easier if I could sleep now… I feel my stomach is going to leave my body soon…"

"Ok, so I'll keep rubbing your temples"

"Then I'll fall asleep"

"We… could talk" Natsu gave her a confused look, almost as he thought there was nothing to talk about, but he knew that wasn't the case "Ok, what about?"

"I'm still angry at you…" He sighed and grabbed her hand "I'm sorry" she puffed her cheeks in annoyance, "you idiot… do you even know what I'm angry about?"

He thought about the options, he knew there were millions of reasons Lucy could be mad at him. The past three months had been hell and he had done many things to piss her off; he decided asking would most definitely work against him "Ok… so I'm really sorry? About… everything?"

"You left a letter Natsu… and your scarf, that's as close as it can be to a goodbye suicide letter… what were you thinking?" he was now resting on her lap, both of them were on the floor and he felt her tears falling on his face.

"I'm sorry Luce" she hissed and cradled his face again so he would look directly at her "Stop saying you are sorry! You are not! And you know it. After all this time, you thought it was a good idea to tell me you… to say that to me over a letter! Without giving me an opportunity to say it back to you…" She immediately noticed the words leaving her mouth without her brain's permission.

"Say it back? W-what are you…" Memories of the letter came flowing back to his head, he was so out of himself at that point he had forgotten what he wrote -Fuck fuck fuck fuck - "Do you… did you want to…" he gulped again "Say it back?"

Lucy was blushing for a full minute before Natsu pulled enough strength to get up from her lap. He brushed her cheek with his hand and turned her to look at him "Luce?" she took a deep breath and directed her eyes to his; she'd never seen such awesome, deep, and loving eyes before. They leaned to each other slowly before the train came to a full stop causing Natsu to get dizzy, and accidentally pull her to the floor with him.

He felt like his stomach was going to explode but the current situation was too important for him to care. They were both on the ground, she had landed above him, and both were blushing while staring at each other, before the compartment door opened up.

"We are h...home" Mira was staring at them with an excited look on her face "Well… this is more like what I was expecting! But you guys should have waited for us to get home!"

"M-Mira! This is not… we weren't!" the takeover mage giggled and covered her mouth with her hand "Sure thing Lucy… if you say so…" She left the door open to reveal the small group behind her, which consisted of Gray, Juvia Gajeel, Levy, and Happy who didn't take long to tease them.

"You liiiike each other!"

"Go Lu-Chan!"

"Juvia wishes you the best former Love-rival!"

They both managed to stand up quickly and raised their hands to try to explain, but every word they said fell on empty ears. They walked back to the guild, Natsu kept breathing in to remember every scent he had missed, he thought he would never be able to come back to the city, and it was all overwhelming.

Lucy noticed his mind drifting, and grabbed his hand; he smiled sweetly at her before entwining their fingers while they walked back to the guild.

"Why is she holding his hand?"

"Oi! You are loud and annoying… shut up" Merryl gave Gajeel an angry look "You can't tell me to shut up! He is in a vulnerable state and that witch is taking advantage of him"

Levy laughed loudly at the statement "Oh like you weren't planning on doing that! Come on, you can't be that blind, they make sense together"

"She will never understand him, they are not good for each other and one day you'll see it too"

"Oh… and you think you are good for him?"

"I do, I've seen him at his worst, damn it! I've taken his worst"

"That doesn't mean you are good for him" Levy shook her head, but before she could continue Gajeel interrupted "Nah, that's just means you are fucking crazy, and a masochist…" Merryl squealed in annoyance and walked away from the group.

They arrived to the guild and Natsu stood in front of the doors carefully observing them "What's on your mind?" He looked at Lucy's fingers tangled with his, then back at her face "I...didn't think I would come back home" She smiled and squeezed his hand "Well… welcome home Natsu". They walked hand in hand to be received by cheers and victorious screams, after all Fairy tail was everything but quiet.

The yelling became louder and louder before Makarov took his rightful place above the bar "SILENCE YOU BRATS!" from one second to the other the cheers died down to a whisper before total silence took over.

"Today is a joyous day! Today we celebrate the return of a son! A friend and a brother!" He gave them a proud look "Let this teach us that we are all strong individuals, but our true strength comes from our united efforts to stay together!" people cheered again before Makarov raised his hand to ask for silence one more "We were close to losing people we care about deeply, this should teach us to treasure each moment. We are mages that will always stare at danger in the eye, and the risk is always great, however, while we live a life of danger, the reward, relationships and experience we accumulate will follow us throughout our lives! However short of long they may be! NOW LETS CELEBRATE THE ONLY WAY FAIRY TAIL KNOWS HOW!"

The guild erupted back to cheers, drinks were being delivered left and right and the environment was of pure happiness. Makarov walked on top of the bar, towards Natsu and Lucy who were occupying two bar stools.

"Now you two… I meant every word I said, but let me be clear! If you ever scare me like that again, I'll beat you up to a pulp! Is that clear?"

"AYE!" both mages responded in unison. Makarov left to enjoy himself while observing all his children, he knew he would never get tired of this no matter how old he got.

"Natsuuu!" Happy flew right on top of his head and slapped his forehead lightly "Dammit, is that becoming a thing now!?"

"You are being weird… maybe it's because Lucy is so close!" He was back to his usual snickering now that he had his two best friends back together "Natsu you promised!"

"I… why don't we do it later? Wouldn't want to interrupt a party, would you?"

"I don't care! A promise is a promise!" Natsu rubbed his chin "Ok, how about… we get a HUGE fish for you first?" Happy started drooling, but quickly shook his head and slapped Natsu again "Nuh uh! I know what you are trying to do! You are going!"

"Wait, what did he promise?" The blue exceed left his place and flew to the counter, he looked at Natsu who shook his head a little, pleading his silence; he frowned with an angry face before looking at Lucy.

"He promised he would let Wendy look at his injury, It's still…"

"Happy! Shut it!" Lucy gave Natsu a stern look before pointing at Happy "Speak cat!"

"It's still bleeding, I saw it the day at the Inn and he promised we would let Wendy know as soon as we came back!"

"Tsk… Damn it, what are friends for?!"

"Oh no! You are not blaming this on him! He is only worried about you. Now get your ass up...NOW"

He flinched a bit, Lucy was mad at him again; he stood up slowly and got closer to her face "Listen, I really don't want Wendy to see it"

"She is tougher than what you give her credit for, and much more grown up. Anyways, I'm not letting this go, so…" She signaled Natsu to walk and he rolled his eyes, which earned him yet another slap.

"Hey Wendy!"

"Lucy! What's up?"

"We were wondering if you could take a look at Natsu's injuries."

She smiled and nodded, however Natsu could tell the look she gave him was different than before, "Let's go to the infirmary" they walked behind the bluenette until they reached their destination, when she signaled Natsu to sit "Ok, let me see"

It was definitely something he didn't want to do, he never had an issue with being shirtless, hell he had no issue with nakedness at all. This was different; he felt a weird mix of emotions about the injuries his body had sustained; one was shame, this was prove that he could be weak and powerless. The other was one he was confused about, he knew the emotion well but it didn't make sense for him to feel that way, so he decided to disregard it for now and think about it later.

Lucy was confused to say the least, she still had all the access she needed to Natsu's internal turmoil without him being aware, and that small emotion Natsu quickly put away was clear to her. She couldn't name the emotion, it was too confusing to do so, but she knew then and there that he felt he had deserved what happened, and that he thought that punishment was not enough for what he had done.

Natsu removed his shirt slowly revealing the open wounds on his torso and back along with more than a few bruises that Lucy didn't remember.

"These look worse than before…"

"Hmm, I can heal most of it, but it will still scar. The one on the back is deeper… what happened?"

"Er… he got knife happy…"

Wendy raised her hands and a soft light started emanating from them, he immediately felt the pain leaving his body and took a deep calming breath. Once they were done, the council's symbol and the wording on his back was still there, but there was no more bleeding and the pain was much more manageable.

"Lucy, can you give me a minute with Natsu?" She bit her lip and nodded, she would have preferred not to leave them alone, but the determination on the young Dragon Slayer's eye was enough to make her accept. She left the room and closed the door behind her but stayed outside to wait for her friends.

"So… what's up Wendy?" He gave her a big smile, but he noticed she didn't respond to it; she was stoic and staring at him in a way she had never before. She looked older now, he didn't even notice when it happened.

"I'm going to ask you something, and I'm going to ask just once" He gulped and nodded, waiting for her to continue, "Before it all went down… Lucy came in with an injury to her arm… it was bad Natsu; it smelled like fire, blood, and dragon…"

Natsu's eyes widen, of course, he knew what she was talking about. He shut his eyes -How stupid can I be, of course Wendy knows about it… Lucy doesn't have a scratch on her- "I…"

"I know you did it… my question is why? I know you weren't yourself, and you were struggling, but I can't imagine you hurting Lucy, not even in this situation"

"I wasn't trying to hurt her! Wendy come on, I would never!" -Nope, that's a lie… you've hurt her plenty"

"Ok, you would never, then why did you?"

Images of that night started flashing in Natsu's head, her hot breath on his mouth, her legs wrapped around his waist, the sensations flooding his body at feeling her touch; then he remembered the blood and flinched.

"I… got carried away…"

"You got…? What in Mavis' name do you mean!?"

-How the hell do I explain this to Wendy…? God Dammit! - "Er… I was… trying to show her how much I wanted her to… stay?" The teenager blinked a couple of times "I don't get how you telling her to stay ended up with her bleeding"

"I didn't say I told her… I said… I tried to show her" He made an awkward face, and stared at her, hoping she would get the point already, he cleared his throat and half smiled at her.

She tilted her head and observed him, she noticed him blushing a bit, and then she started blushing too "Oh… you… you...OH…" he immediately noticed she was taking things too far in her mind "OI! Nothing like that, Geez Wendy… I just… " He sighed and looked down "I just kissed her… a bit too much probably, and I lost it Wendy…"

She nodded and sat next to him "Do you… love her?" he stared at her with a surprised look -When did she grow up so much - "I… do, but right now there's too much to figure out, you know?". He didn't want to lie to Wendy, he knew exactly why he couldn't move forward right now, but he couldn't tell her a thing "I'm just not sure how long I'll be able to stay"

"Well, I think with everyone's help, you will be fine… but let's think for a minute that things won't be ok… let's say you had only a week to be here; shouldn't you take advantage of the time you have with her? I mean… if I only had a day to live freely, I'd like to spend it with the person I love the most, wouldn't you?"

-Ok… this is getting weird… I'm being schooled by a toddler! ok she ain't a toddler but anyways… - He wanted, no, he needed to get out of this conversation and thought about the best way to do so "OH… and who may that be Wendy?" He smirked at her and gave her a small nudge when he noticed her face growing redder "If there's someone that caught your eye, as an unofficial big brother I should know"

"IDON'TKNOWWHATYOUARETALKINGABOUT, I AM LATE FOR SOMETHING! BYE!" Wendy left the room quickly and Natsu laughed loudly, yeah, some things never changed.

* * *

Lucy was waiting outside of the room, she was leaning on the wall and felt a sharp pain in her heart, but it was different, it wasn't her pain, but his, that's when she heard him in her head.

How stupid can I be, of course Wendy knows about it… Lucy doesn't have a scratch on her.

She knew what the conversation was about now, she felt his regret and sadness and it made her soul hurt.

-Nope, that's a lie… you've hurt her plenty.

She whispered to herself, knowing if her thoughts were left in her head he would be able to hear her too, she wasn't ready for him to know "He would never hurt me; I don't blame him, why would he blame himself?"

All of a sudden she felt a tingling feeling in her stomach, her temperature rose and she remembered the day she walked in to find him in her apartment; his mouth was so warm, and his lips were softer than what she imagined them to be; she blushed and placed her hands on her cheeks and shook her head.

-How the hell do I explain this to Wendy…? God Dammit! "Oh don't you dare explain that to Wendy, Natsu"

She was about to kick the door open when a different image invaded her mind, Natsu was standing inside an office with black and white square floors, facing a big wooden desk, and a huge stained glass window. The man in front of him was non other than the highest council member Shiro Mahotsu.

She couldn't make sense of the conversation, it was so scattered, the sound was almost muffled; she was able to get pieces here and there.

\- Remove Makarov - Execution - She tried to focus on Shiro's lips since she couldn't hear him, she was almost sure her name and Gajeel's were brought up at some point. -Destruction - Deal -

That's when it hit her, he was still keeping secrets, this was not over and he was still carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Before she could get too tangled in her own concerns, a feeling of love invaded her heart, not hers, but his… she was overwhelmed by how big this feeling was and she just stayed silent embracing it.

The door burst open when Wendy ran out of the room, and she heard Natsu laughing.

"What did you do to poor Wendy!?"

"Nothing! She asks too much, so I asked back" he gave her one of his big smiles, an honest one this time "Hey Luce… can we… go somewhere? I think we have some stuff to talk about"

"I think we do to…"


	23. Chapter 23

_**YO! So this one is 100% NaLu interaction, very little to almost no involvement of other characters to considered yourself warned XD. We are going to start reaching the point where love scenes will be added, now... I have no idea how to write a lemon but If you are into it, let me know and I'll gain some courage to give it a try; I mostly write angst with some sort of closure but I'm sure with some practice I'll come up with something good for you :P**_

 ** _-A-_**

Lolz... I just noticed a huge grammar error at the end, my bad, if there's any other, please let me know

* * *

 _ **"We all want love. We all need love. And no matter how much we push it away or pretend to deny ourselves of it, our hearts will always desire it."**_  
 _ **― Corey M.P., Hearts and Errors**_

* * *

She couldn't make sense of the conversation, it was so scattered, the sound was almost muffled; she was able to get a few pieces here and there.

 _\- Remove Makarov - Execution -_ She tried to focus on Shiro's lips since she couldn't hear him, she was almost sure her name and Gajeel's were brought up at some point. _-Destruction - Deal -_

That's when it hit her, he was still keeping secrets, this was not over, and he was still carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Before she could get too tangled in her own concerns, a feeling of love invaded her heart, not hers, but his… she was overwhelmed by how big this feeling was and she just stayed silent embracing it.

The door burst open when Wendy ran out of the room, and she heard Natsu laughing.

"What did you do to poor Wendy!?"

"Nothing! She asks too much, so I asked back" he gave her one of his big smiles, an honest one this time "Hey Luce… can we… go somewhere? I think we have some stuff to talk about"

"I think we do…"

He was trying hard to get a reign on his emotions, he had accepted to himself that he loved her more than anything, but he was yet to decide what to do with the feeling. He had only been able to act upon it in dreams, those in which everything was perfect and where none of the horrible circumstances they had experienced existed… however, a thought crossed his mind… If none of those things happened would they have met? Would they be as bonded as they were?

He considered a second possibility, he felt he loved her but was it possible the bond through trauma was so deep that he confused the feelings? After all, he only thought about his feelings for Lisanna after her death.

If he considered it love, then it was a different kind of love than what he had experienced before. With Igneel he felt not only love but admiration, he was his father and role model, just as Makarov and Gildarts became after he left; with his comrades it was a love born out of loyalty, and comfort; but when it came to Lucy, he had been clueless for such long time.

He knew the love he felt for her was different; yes, he felt loyalty, comfort, admiration, but his gut told him it was not the same; when she was not around, he felt loneliness as he had never felt before, he longed for her presence, he felt unease by her absence. Her scent, her touch, her smile… it was home.

It took him a long time to understand, and once he did, he laughed at himself and thought "Well, I guess I am as dense as they said" yeah, he had heard that before, not only to his face. Everyone knew Dragon Slayers had magnificent hearing, but they couldn't imagine how good it was. How could they know if they didn't have it, right?

He had always been considered naive and he was very aware, he even took advantage of it to get away with stuff, after all how could they be mad at him if he "didn't know better". Sure, he had never shown interest in the opposite sex aside from Lisanna, but with her it wasn't _that_ type of interest anyways, so, when they made fun of him for it, he just pretended he didn't understand.

He remembered the time he started really thinking about how he felt for Lucy.

 _He was playing with a fireball lying on one of the tables and drinking a beer when he overheard the conversation._

" _Yo, look at what Lucy is wearing today" Macao was basically drooling on the table, they were pretty far from Natsu but of course as soon as his partner's name was mentioned he started paying attention._

" _She looks so hot! Look at that short skirt… and that cleavage" Wakaba joined in the drooling almost leaving a small pool on the table._

" _Man, what I wouldn't give to have my hands on those long silky legs right now"_

" _Like you would know what to do with all of that"_

" _Oh, I would, if I had a chance, I would pin her against the wall and …" He didn't have a chance to finish before Natsu's fireball hit the wall behind him scorching his hair a bit._

" _Natsu! What the hell?"_

" _Oh man! It slipped my hand, my bad!" he grinned and shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal._

 _After apologizing he observed his hands and thought to himself – Dammit… What the hell am I doing; nah I'm not doing something wrong, they can't say those things about Lucy! She is our comrade… No one should ever talk about her like that!...- He heard Lucy's name again and directed his attention to a different conversation._

" _Lu! That's a really cute outfit! Going somewhere?"_

" _Uhm… yeah, I kind of have a date Lev"_

" _OH! Do tell! Who's the lucky guy?"_

" _Just a guy I met last week in the library"_

" _Is he cute?" Lucy smiled at her friend "Oh yeah, he is blonde, hazel eyes, super tall! And he is also a literature professor"_

 _Levy squirmed on her chair "Looks and smarts! He sounds perfect for you!"_

" _He is! I'm a bit intimidated by him… he is a bit older than me?"_

" _Older?" Levy couldn't help but think of the guy being as old as Makarov "Lu! You can't date octogenarian!"_

" _Oh relax! I didn't mean THAT old… He is 28…"_

" _Well… that's still quite older than you; hmm he is probably… more experienced"_

" _Yeah… but he looks like a nice guy you know? I don't think that's going to be a problem"_

 _For some reason Natsu felt his blood boil – Who the hell is this guy? Why do I not know about him! He's probably a fucking weirdo… tsk… Now come on what am I thinking… Luce is smart, she'll be alright… - He wasn't convinced, his blood kept boiling and he decided he would observe from a Lucy-kick-safe distance just to make sure she was ok._

 _The guy came to pick Lucy from her apartment around 8:30 at night and took her to a nice traditional restaurant across the Magnolia park._

 _Ninja-Natsu crouched behind the bushes across the street, with his scarf around his head and acting as if he was about to use a powerful ninjutsu technique. He observed through the folds of his scarf to what seemed to be a normal date._

" _She seems to be having fun" he felt a pain in his chest as the sadness made space in his heart "What's happening…why am I so upset about this? She is just laughing with him… I like it when she laughs, she has the best laugh"_

 _He noticed the guy dragged his hand slowly above the table until it reached hers and grabbed it softly, he saw her blush and look away in embarrassment; Natsu clenched his fists "He is just touching her hand! For crying out loud! I hold her hand all the damn time, f-friends do that… right?" The guy wouldn't let go of her, he rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand causing Natsu to feel fire in the pit of his stomach._

 _The guy offered Lucy more wine, and Natsu saw her shaking her head and waving her hand "Duh! Of course she is not going to drink anymore you idiot! Lucy is a lightweight and she knows it" He pushed the bottle above her glass and filled it up anyways, and she just bowed and smiled._

 _She was smart, but raised with too much politeness to object, so, she took her glass and drank it "Seriously, you are so dumb Luce! That guy is going to end up carrying you home" It took about half a minute of that sentence echoing inside his big head before he realized why that sounded wrong "Oh hell no, he ain't carrying her home!"_

 _Yeah, everyone assumed Natsu was clueless in all intimacy matters, and they were half right; he had no certainty on how things really went, but he knew the general stuff; that put together with having excellent hearing, and accidentally listening to conversations that were everything but kid friendly, along with a couple of people hooking up in the storage closet at the guild which he hadn't been able to tune out, gave him a pretty clear idea on what could happen; no, he was definitely not going to let that man carry Lucy home._

 _Soon enough the guy got the bill and paid up; they walked outside the restaurant where he offered his arm, and she took it giggling. Natsu could tell she was tipsy, but not drunk "Ok, time to follow along"_

 _Natsu followed closely and saw Lucy walking on the edge of the river "Well, if she falls at least she'll sober up…". She was very close to falling when the guy wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her safe; Natsu clenched his jaw "Fuck… " he felt that fire in the pit of his stomach again and he growled a little causing both objectives to turn, thankfully he was able to hide himself._

 _They were finally at the door from Lucy's apartment in Strawberry street "Say goodnight Luce… say goodnight"_

 _He focused on listening to their conversation "Well, this was fun! We… should do it again sometime?"_

" _Of course, how do you feel about breakfast?"_

" _Well, I'm not much of a morning person" she blushed a bit "But as long as it's not super early"_

 _He laughed and removed the hair from her face "I was actually thinking about cooking it for you, once we wake up"_

 _She gave him a puzzled look "Am… I told you, I'm not a morning person; I rather we saw each other in the afternoon" She knew exactly was he was offering but decided to play dumb. She thought any half decent guy would be embarrassed and laugh it up._

" _Well then I'll wake up and wait for you to do the same" He grabbed her by the nape and pulled her towards him; she placed her hands on his chest and pushed "Hey! What the hell?"_

" _Oh, come on! You know you are dying for me to come upstairs and rip that skimpy outfit off"_

" _I think you better go" She was still pushing him, but he didn't budge "Let go!"_

" _How about I don't? Why would you dress like that if you didn't want me to go upstairs, uhm?" He pulled harder to bring her closer to him "Plus, you still owe me for dinner missy, and I'm not leaving empty handed…" Lucy gave him an angry look and reached for her keys, but before she got them, she saw a fiery flash getting closer; in a matter of seconds her date was slammed against the floor._

" _Natsu!"_

" _How dare you! Her clothes are not an invitation you moron!" he was furious, that idiot had gone on a date with his Lucy! The sweetest, most kind-hearted person he knew, and he had dared to disrespect her._

" _She said let go!" He walked to the guy who was still on the floor and stepped on his gut "How many fucking times does she need to ask for you to leave her alone!" Natsu grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to lift him from the ground and punched him on the face causing him to fall again._

" _I'm sorry! I-I'll leave!" Natsu puffed some smoke from his mouth "Oh you ain't leaving now! I'm all fired up!" he grabbed him again when he felt a soft hand touching his arm "Just… let him go"_

" _No"_

" _Natsu…"_

" _But Luceee!" he turned enough to see the tears on her eyes and forced himself to calm down "Tsk… GO! And if I ever see your face again you are going to eat through a straw for the rest of your life!" he let go of the shirt with a push causing the scared man to stumble, he ran so fast he left a smoke screen behind him._

 _Natsu turned around and hugged Lucy tightly "Are you ok?" She nodded into his chest and hugged him back. She stayed like that for a few minutes taking comfort on his natural warmth._

" _Ok… I g-guess I'm leaving now… go get some rest ok? Why don't we pick a mission tomorrow? I'm sure you are short on rent money" In his clumsiness he thought acting normal would make her feel better. She smiled but grabbed his vest "C-could you stay for a bit?_

 _They went upstairs, Lucy boiled some water for tea and sat on the couch with him, she was still holding her tears back._

" _I'm so stupid… why would anyone want something serious with me…"_

" _Hey!" He pulled her to his chest and rubbed soothing circles on her back "You are crazy… w-why wouldn't someone want to Luce?"_

" _Come on! You've said it yourself! Even your stupid cat says it! I'm spoiled, and stupid, and weak!" Yeah, drunk Lucy had two moods only, extremely happy or extremely sad._

 _He held her shoulders and push her to face him "You are spoiled! But you are also kind, and generous, and talented! And so smart and…" He stopped, his heart was beating faster now, he was sweating, and his mouth felt dry "Y-you also ahem" he lost his words for a second, he wanted to tell he she was beautiful, perfect, amazing, but he stumbled on his own tongue "You h-have pretty hair… and all"_

 _She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder "I guess I have bad taste in guys uh?"_

 _He giggled "Nah, you just trust people too much Luce, that's who you are… you always see the best in people. Remember the day we met?"_

" _How could I not! You guys almost ate my money away" she laughed "And you also saved me from that horrible man, and burned the town in the process"_

" _Well that's what we do Luce! We eat and burn stuff" He gave her a half grin which she couldn't see since she was still resting on his shoulder "But you do that so well Natsu!" She chuckled and cuddled a bit more next to him leaving her mouth dangerously close to his neck, causing him to shiver a little._

" _You ok?" he gulped and tried to keep his voice steady "Yeah, yeah, just… t-ticklish" she giggled once more before poking his stomach "Ticklish? Really?"_

" _Don't you dare" He tighten his grip around her to immobilize her and was met with no resistance whatsoever. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Natsu noticed her steady breathing "Are you sleeping weirdo?" The lack of response was his answer._

 _He nuzzled her head and was greeted by Lucy's scent – Vanilla and lavender… She smells so nice…Dammit! What am I doing… She has always smelled like that, hasn't she? Why is it so intoxicating all of the sudden? -_

 _Lucy nuzzled his neck accidentally pressing her body towards him, revealing her cleavage -Oh boy…I'm in trouble, she's going to wake up and Lucy-kick me all the way to the guild-_

 _He gently moved the arm that had been resting on her back towards the back of her neck and crossed his other arm behind her knees to pick her up; he lifted her gently to take her to the bed and took a minute to observe her. In his eyes she was perfect, her golden hair was sprawled on the pillow, her lips slightly parted, her skin was like the most expensive silk; she was loyal, honest, and her heart was so big that a complete dimension would fit in it._

 _He rubbed his temples in confusion; he couldn't explain it, when he tried to put it in words it sounded ridiculous for him. He always thought it felt like if a balloon was inside his chest and every time he looked at her, air expanded that balloon until it has too big to hold inside his chest and it soon invaded his throat._

 _Natsu took another moment to consider his actions, the way he got upset, how protective he was of her; hell, he even followed her during her date; which now he was thinking about it, it sounded kind of creepy. He thought about how angry he got when other guys would make nasty comments about her body. Voices filled his head, Happy constantly teasing him about liking her, Mira and her obsession with getting them together, Cana, Levy, even Lisanna. He thought about the douche she went out with today and got angry again…he didn't want anyone to touch her… anyone but him?_

 _-Fuck… am I? in love with Lucy?…-_

Before he knew it, they were at the door of Lucy's place in Strawberry Street; he had been so lost in his thoughts that he had walked there automatically. Lucy was fumbling with the keys nervously when he remembered the purpose of the visit was to talk, and he suddenly felt anxious about the situation.

"Y-you know what, I should probably take care of some other stuff first… so why don't we leave this for later?"

"Stuff? What stuff?"

"I… need to go see Porlyusica! To talk about avoiding the dreams" _-I'm a fucking genius! –_

Lucy knew he was avoiding the situation, and decided she wouldn't stand it "Ok, so let's go"

"Nah! I can go by myself, and I… will catch up with you later, ok?" He smiled widely as he commonly did, but his smile soon faded with her response.

"No"

"W-what?"

"You heard me... You've been away for months, and I refuse to leave your side, so we either go inside and talk, or we go to Porlyusica… together" Lucy got ahold of one of her golden keys "Open gate of the maiden, Virgo!"

"Princess, I'm ready for my punishment" Lucy rolled her eyes and pointed at Natsu "The stray dog wants to run away… could you?" He blinked twice and before he knew it, a chain from the spirit world was around his wrist.

"Would that be all princess?"

"Yes, Thanks Virgo!"

"Lucy this is not fair! You know I can't use my magic to get rid of it!" She stuck her tongue out "Precisely"

"Grrr….FINE!" he raised his hands in frustration; Natsu knew when Lucy was determined to get her way with something, there was little he could do to change her mind.

He grudgingly walked dragging his feet all the way to the old healer's home. He didn't dislike the woman, but he hated to be hit on the head with a broom; still he knew this was a problem he had to resolve.

As expected as soon as they knocked on the door, the pink-haired woman opened with a broom in hand.

"You smelly humans! What are you doing here! Go away" she pounced with her broom at full speed, which both mages dodged effectively.

"Porlyusica, please! We need your help!" Lucy said in the most pleading tone she could.

"Do you have any broken bones?"

"No…"

"Are you bleeding?"

"No, but…"

"Is anyone dying?"

"No! but we really…"

"Then get out of my property!"

This time when she tried to hit them, Natsu caught it with one hand and stared right at her "I really do need your help; you… heard about what happened?"

"Mhm, yes… I did… You kids are always causing problems for that old fool"

"I need your help, so I don't cause him more trouble, ok?"

She looked at him and clenched her teeth "Fine!" She walked inside without inviting them in, and they knew that was as much of an invitation as they were going to get.

They sat down and Natsu explain his problem in general, from the council's prohibition, to the problem controlling his magic while sleeping; to make a clear point out of it he had to explain what had happened with Gajeel when this all started. Lucy listened carefully during that part, she was away when it happened, so, she didn't know all the details about it; she noticed the pain and regret in his heart as he told the story.

"I see…" Porlyusica stood up and walked to her book shelf to retrieve a big, heavy and old looking book; she cleaned the red leathery cover with her hand and opened it, tracing the words with her finger and mumbling incoherent thoughts until she found what she was looking for "Hmm"

"WHAT!? Could you please stop mumbling to yourself!"

"NATSU! Be patient, you don't yell at people after you asked for help!"

"Buuuut Luuuuceeee!"

"Alright then…" they both turned to Porlyusica who gave them an annoyed look "I can make a potion that will stop you from dreaming" they both started to smile when she raised her hand asking for their patience "but, it's risky… you would be taking yourself out of the dream world, and that comes with a price… you won't rest the same, so yes, it would be sufficient for your survival but not for you to recover"

"But… that's not a big deal is it? I mean half the time I don't remember any of my dreams"

"The fact that you don't remember doesn't mean they aren't there. It is usually risky for a regular human; In theory, if you were at your best you could do this without an issue maybe for a month and probably not even … but since you can't use magic or consume magic… also who knows the type of strain you put in that body for the past few months… "

"I don't get it, what's the big deal?"

Porlyusica slapped him behind his head "Seriously! You won't rest, you won't eat fire, you won't recover what you are already missing… it's a recipe for disaster! You could go mad!"

He thought about it for a second "N-no… I don't think so, I've done that before…"

The old healer gave him an angry look and crossed her arms "And how did that work out?"

He shivered… of course he knew how that worked out; he had blood in his hands, he hurt his friends and almost lost control of himself going so deep he thought he wasn't going to be able to come back; he had been mean to Happy, he had injured Lucy; the list could go on…

"I'm also concerned about how things could change, you see weather of not you remember your dream, it sticks deep inside you, and it could potentially affect your decisions"

"Ok, ok I get it, it is dangerous… but still… I don't think we have a choice if we consider the alternative"

She sighed "It'll take me at least a day and a half to make enough for 2 weeks, we'll go from there… until then you'll have to find a way to stay awake"

Both Natsu and Lucy visibly gulped, they were exhausted both physically and mentally; they were taken out of their thoughts by an angry yell "Now get out of my property! I don't want to see your faces until tomorrow evening!"

The ran out of the house before being hit on the head with a broom and only stopped once they felt there was a safe distance between them and the scary old woman. "So… how are we going to keep you awake?"

"We? Nah don't worry about it… I'll figured something out"

"Oh Please… you need my help and you know it, plus we still have that pending conversation that you are obviously trying to avoid…" She held her hands on her back and smiled at him as she often did; he got nervous all of the sudden, his palms started sweating before he gave her a shy smile "S-sure, why don't we go grab some food first? I'm starving"

"You know what Natsu? Do whatever you want… I'm done chasing you around" she removed the chain from his arm and turned on her heel when he grabbed her wrist "Hey! What the hell's a matter with you?"

"You!" He gave her a confused puppy look and she sighed "You need to choose… you either want me to stay or leave Natsu, but you can decide for me to patiently wait for you at a safe distance… what's it going to be?"

He flinched, he didn't know what the right choice was yet and there he was being forced into figuring stuff out on the go; but then again… didn't he always?

"Ok, we'll talk then…"

The walk back to Lucy's house was quiet, things were awkward, and he knew it was his fault. Things had been so great on the train, aside from the awful feeling of the motion sickness, she was there making him feel better and now he was sure she felt strongly about him too; how did they go from being so incredibly comfortable to barely being able to say a word in a matter of hours?

Once more they were at the door from Lucy's apartment in Strawberry street, but this time she didn't fumble with her keys; she was determined to get this done and nothing was going to stop it from happening.

She walked to the bed and sat there, resting her back on the wall, while he leaned on the door with his arms crossed above his chest, still tangled in his own thoughts.

"So…" Lucy tapped her fingers on the bed, clearly getting impatient "What did you want to talk about?" she noticed he stiffened but the only response was silence, she could hear him going over the possibilities inside his head, thinking about everything that could go wrong.

"I missed you…" Natsu was startled by the comment, but couldn't avoid his lip from curling upward "I… missed you too Luce"

"Why have you been so… far?"

"Well, I was away… what do you mean?" He of course knew what she was referring to, how could he not? But he was still indecisive on where to take this conversation; on one side Wendy was right, he should take advantage of their time together, on the other, he wasn't sure he would be strong enough to let go of her if needed…

"Geez… I mean… far… since before you left you kind of… you know"

"Oh… I was trying to figure some stuff out" He took a big breath and rubbed the back of his head "I guess I still am"

"Why do you always want to deal with everything by yourself? I mean… isn't it the purpose of being partners to be able to balance the weight?"

"Of course, but… I…it's not… the same"

"Oh, is that so?" Lucy was very annoyed by his answer, it reminded her a lot to the situation the rest of the females dealt with at the inn with Gajeel and the boys "Because I'm a woman, weak, or because your continuous need to prove you are the best of the best makes you too weak to ask for help?"

"Woohoo calm down a bit! I ain't weak, I didn't need help"

"Inability to ask for help sounds like a weakness to me" they were both irritated, neither being able to understand why the other was so stubborn. "Can I ask you something?" he nodded in agreement "After what you pulled, what in Mavis' name made you think I was going learn about your visit to the council, and let it be?"

"I… don't know, I wasn't thinking straight I guess" If he really thought about it, the idea was stupid, even if he had timed everything perfectly which he almost did, he should have known the guild wouldn't let him die.

"So… you weren't in your right mind when you wrote the letter?"

"Look… I know I made you worry, and I'm sorry about the letter Luce… I really am, I just thought that was the only thing I could do to keep you safe. A-are we good now?"

She nodded then shook her head, which only caused Natsu to get more confused. Lucy crawled until the foot of the bed to retrieve her backpack and took the letter out "Are you sorry about everything in the letter?" her lips tensed into a thin line. He knew what she was talking about.

"Luce…" She stomped her foot and held the letter higher "Don't Luce me! Are you?"

He tensed his muscles and clench is fists in frustration "What do you want me to say?" She stayed quiet, observing him expectantly "Luce… I… though I was going to die"

"Oh" her eyes got watery and she felt a pain deep within her heart "So, it was a thing of the moment then?"

 _\- What am I going to do…-_ Natsu remembered the night he had clawed Lucy's arm, that day she had made a decision in the same room they were standing in, she had decided to hurt him in order to keep him safe, despite of it making her miserable _-I'm so sorry Luce… I love you too much to drag you down…-_

"I shouldn't have said it ok? It was a mistake" Lucy's face became red in anger; or course she knew what he was doing, she could hear his internal struggle, but that didn't mean the words didn't hurt "A mistake? You…you said you loved me and now that is a mistake!?" her hands were shaking uncontrollably, and she felt her stomach burning.

"It was, I already said I shouldn't have said that" He knew this conversation was bound to happen, but he hoped he had more time. It happened so quickly that it caught him off guard.

"You are lying again! When will the lies end Natsu?"

"Oi! I never lie!"

"Another lie! You are the biggest liar in Magnolia!"

"Why would you even say that Luce! When have I ever lied to you?"

"Choosing to avoid the truth is a form of lying Natsu"

"That's not the same!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! You thought not telling your best friend you were constantly dreaming about killing her wasn't lying? What about when the scales started? Or the real reason you didn't want me to leave, OH I KNOW… how about telling me about your little alone time with that red headed Kraken?!"

"I don't… What do you want me to do uh?" He was getting frustrated, he wanted to grab her, hug her, and never let her go; to tell her it would all be ok, but how could he… that would be a lie; he didn't even know how much time he would have. "Did you want me to crawl into your lap like a child because of a nightmare, or maybe tell you that risking your life to rewrite by book was useless… and Merryl… I was going mad, I felt alone and angry… What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to be honest!" she rubbed her temples and whispered, but she knew well that he could hear her well "Honest about your year away… about how you feel about Z… about your _brother_ " Natsu cringed when hearing the word, his brother had given AND taken all and he still didn't know how he felt about that "about when you are sad, and tired and when you don't feel like smiling…"

He turned and rested his forehead on the door, he didn't say a thing. Has it always been obvious for her? Was it obvious for the rest of his friends?

"Are you saying you don't love me?" She knew he did, she felt it with their new-found connection; she was testing him. He took a deep breath against the door, turned quickly and stared right at her "I don't" he felt his heart being pierced as he pronounced the words, and she felt his pain too.

"Then why go through all the trouble Natsu? If you don't care about me that way, then you should have let me marry Fukuro instead of killing him!" Lucy knew she had made a mistake as soon as the words left her mouth. His face twisted in pain; he didn't regret killing him but taking someone's life was never something easy to do and was something that would cause one's soul to break into pieces.

"Is that what you wanted?! You probably miss the life, right princess? Is that what you need to be happy?" His words stung; Natsu knew that the one thing she hated was to be seen as the heiress she was; and she knew he was trying to hurt her.

"No, you idiot…" He slammed his hand on the wall "Then what!? You weren't happy in your precious mansion, you weren't happy when I didn't want you to go, you weren't happy about what I did to help! What the fuck do you want Lucy?!"

"YOU!" He fell silent, his breath got caught in his lungs and his eyes widen "I want you… is that so hard to understand?"

"You… don't Luce, you don't mean that… I'm may be your best friend, but anything other than that I'll be bad at Luce… I'm bad for you, can't you tell?"

"So, make up your damn mind! Is it because you are bad for me, or because you don't love me?"

He was trapped, Natsu was bad with words and his lies caught up with him; he tried to push her away, to hurt her, and she was still standing "Dammit…Look… I…don't… I'm telling you it was a mistake"

"Why?" She was getting tired of his attitude, there she was wearing her feelings on her skin, while he couldn't even look at her.

"Why wouldn't be? It's a mistake because I can't be with you, so troubling you with that was stupid" He turned around and saw her sad face, it broke his heart to see her cry, but being the cause of it was so much worse "It doesn't matter how I feel Luce… I still can't…"

She closed the gap between the bed and door and cradled his face "Don't… I love you too, stupid dragon" Natsu tried to push her away, but she wouldn't budge, and he didn't want to injure her again. The pushing slowly faded, and he ended up rubbing her shoulders gently, he couldn't keep his emotions in check anymore "it hurts Luce…"

"Then tell me where it hurts, and I'll make it go away" She brushed her thumbs on his cheeks before Natsu looked down and rested his hand on his chest. Lucy moved his hand away and pressed her lips above his heart "There, is that better?" her smile disarmed him immediately, he had always loved how her smile would light up the darkest room.

He half smiled at her and shook his head "You are so dumb Luce… Geez, that was cheesy" She puffed her cheeks in annoyance "Oh! I'm the one being cheesy? Seriously the "Let me confess my love before I go kill myself to save the princess" guy? That's such a cliché"

He laughed a bit and pulled her closer before getting serious again "I still can't do this Luce… that's why it hurts so much"

"Why can't you? There's nothing we can't do… Just… talk to me. We can be together; just promise you'll stay with me"

"That's the problem Luce… I… can't promise to stay forever…" Lucy remembered what she saw, the images of the council member and the deal she suspected meant things weren't quite over "Why?"

"I just can't, leave it alone ok?" he pushed her away and walked to the couch.

"You are still keeping secrets from me"

"Look, I just can't promise I'll stay forever! I can't promise I won't lie! Hell, I can assure you I'll have to"

"Fine!"

This is what he expected, Lucy was going to be angry at him and ask him to leave or kick him out the window as usual; he was waiting in silence for her response dreading the pain but also wishing it would happen… at least this way he could spare her from the events that still awaited him.

The moment didn't come; he snapped his head up when he heard her quiet whimpers and his heart broke once more when he saw her hugging herself as if containing the pain she felt within.

"Just… promise you'll stay today… and tomorrow you can do the same"

"Luce…"

"NO! I don't care ok? We'll deal with it… you don't have to lie"

"But I do…" She stared at him, she could feel his determination failing "You don't… Natsu, it's me… I trust you… just… it's ok if you can't tell me" She felt horrible; she was lying of course, he didn't have to say a thing, she just had to pay attention to his thoughts and try to keep hers from his mind, but if that was the way to keep him safe then she would do it.

"Luce… You don't want to live one day at a time… think about what you are saying…" she sat on the couch and grabbed his hands "As long as I get that one day with you… yeah, I'm willing to compromise" He was surprised to say the least "I'll hurt you…"

"And I'm sure I'll do the same"

"It's not the same Luce, I'm not good for you…"

"Why?"

"I'm just not… there's blood in my hands, demon in my veins, and don't get me started on what's in my head…"

"Stop trying to decide what's best for me, don't I get a say in it?"

"I… just want to keep you safe" He meant it, whatever happened to him was unimportant as long as she was alive and well.

"I won't be ok without you…no one is good for me but you, can't you see it?" He wanted to believe her, he really did. In a second Lucy's face stiffen with determination "I already said you can't take a decision for me, you can't choose what's good for me…I chose you"

He held his breath, she was stunning like this… strong and confident; she had chosen him? How could someone so wonderful choose someone like him?

"Look, I was broken, and you helped put me back together, why won't you let me do the same?"

"Pff I ain't broken, you crazy?" He crossed his arms and huffed in annoyance; yeah, he was a bit depressed and possibly traumatized, but his pride and ego were too big to admit it.

"You know… being broken doesn't mean you are weak. You are the strongest person I know, and you've been through so much… Just… promise to stay, today…"

He hesitated a bit, but he knew her well… she was not going to let this go "Ok…I promise to stay… today" He rubbed her cheek with his thumb and soon they were both blushing; it was almost as if he has unable to remove his hand from her face.

Natsu started leaning over, but only managed to move a few inches closer, he was still nervous about everything. The last kiss they shared was all but romantic, it was full of pain, anger, and raw desperation; more importantly he wondered if it had really been him doing the kissing or if it was his demon instinct taking over.

She felt him hesitate and met him half way. Lucy brushed his lips slightly with hers and they both felt as if a jolt of electricity ran through their bodies, it was so little and so much at the same time.

It started as a chaste kiss, their lips barely moving while Natsu held the back of her head and she wrapped her arms around him; but as things advanced, the heat between them was too much to bear.

She pushed her tongue demanding access, and he gave it to her; he licked her bottom lip and scrapped it with his canines; soon his hands went down to her waist, then her hips, until they landed on her tight. Without him noticing, his fingers brushed the skin below the hem of her skirt causing her to jump a bit.

He pushed a bit too much causing her to tilt her head, which exposed her soft neck; he couldn't stop himself from smelling it, the scent was so pure and strong that his instinct took over making him taste it; he licked from her collar bone to her jaw when he felt her shiver; the sound she made moving something primal within him. He grabbed the back of her head and pulled to the side to kiss the point where her neck met her shoulder causing her to moan.

Lucy was not able to think straight, everything in her body felt like liquid fire; her emotions and thoughts were mixed with his and it was almost too much for her, but she couldn't pull away, she didn't want to. She ventured her hands to his chest and traced the line of every muscle; he was surprised on how something so small could feel so good.

She kept tracing more to the south every time until she reached his waistband; they pulled apart to get some air, both panting from their recent activity. Widen eyes, swollen lips, and a small coat of sweat in their foreheads.

"T-that was…ahem…" he was blushing while trying to catch his breath when she rested her forehead on his "Perfect… it was perfect" she gave him a small peck on the lips.

"I thought I wasn't going to be able to stop Luce… you need to be more careful with that" Lucy turn away from him and blushed.

She focused her attention on the small golden cord joining them together, that little force that had helped her hear, see, and feel what he did. "W-what if I d-didn't want you to?" she was suddenly washed away by the feelings her words have caused in him, burning passion, lust, love… which conflicted a lot with a rising concern and anger.

Lucy turned to face him again, his eyes were filled with a fire she had only seen during a challenging fight, he was panting a bit and he was grabbing the back rest of the couch so tightly Lucy was sure he was going to break it soon.

He jumped forward carelessly as he would in any battle; Natsu assaulted her mouth once more while his right hand fisted the hair on the back of her head, his left hand got ahold on the small on her back. Lucy felt his hot mouth push her down to the couch, and his left hand pulling her hips closer to him; in a few seconds she was lying down and he was resting above her running circles with his thumb on her hip bone.

"N-Natsu" Her voice made him shiver, he traced kisses from her chin to her collar bone, and then lower until he was about to reach the top of her breast; he stopped for a second and started breathing through his mouth "Mhn" The small sound Lucy made once she felt his breath touching her skin blew his mind completely and gave him several other ideas on what he would do to hear those sounds again.

He looked up to see her, panting, blushed face, and biting her lower lip… perfect. The hand which had been resting on her hip bone, slowly made its way up tracing her ribs and stopped just below her breast. Natsu licked the top of the soft mound while cupping it from below eliciting the sounds he was getting quickly addicted to.

Lucy instinctively grabbed the back of his head pulling him closer towards her while arching her back, her mind was swirling, and she couldn't put a word in front of the other. Natsu's right hand which had been patiently waiting, moved to her tight and without displaying the same hesitation than before, made its way underneath Lucy's skirt and landed on her ass giving it a firm squeeze.

"Luce…"

-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-

The startling sound made Natsu role from the couch to land on the floor with a thud "Fuck!"

Lucy tried to catch her breath to sound as normal as possible "Who is it!?"

"Erza and Gray! We have come to check up on you"

Both Lucy and Natsu looked at each other in panic "Fuck, Fuck, fuck! Erza is going to kill me!"

"Shut up and get in the bathroom and come out in a minute or two" He moved quickly and closed the door trying to avoid making any sounds. Lucy fixed herself up as much as possible before opening the doors.

"Hey guys! What's up?"

Gray looked at her and raised his brow "We just came to ask if you wanted to have dinner at the guild, Mira is making something special… Are you ok? You look… weird"

"Indeed, you do Lucy, are you feeling ill?"

She waved her hand quickly and laughed "Of course not! I'm p-perfectly fine"

"Are you sure? you seem to be getting a rash of some sort" Erza pointed directly at Lucy's chest where the red marks were starting to become visible. A second later Natsu came out of the restroom "Yo! Ice- Prick! Erza! What's up?"

Gray looked at Natsu, then back at Lucy; his eyes traced the red spots on Lucy's front from her jawline to her chest, then he looked back at Natsu. There was an awkward silence before Gray covered his mouth and started laughing loudly "Erza she feels fine! Why don't you guys catch up with us back at the guild?"

Lucy was as red as Erza's hair, but she nodded and closed the door "That was close!"

"Yes, it was! I can only imagine what Erza would have done to me!" Natsu imagine himself inside a barrel while Erza pierced it with a thousand swords, before he shook his head and went back to reality "S-so… what now?"

Lucy rubbed her chin and then smiled at him "OK, so… I have one request, not negotiable…"

"Didn't know…girlfriends… were so demanding… " She smiled and tilted her head "Who said I was your girlfriend?" he almost looked offended "OI! Don't tease!" She giggled and covered her mouth. His demeanor had completely changed from the beginning of the conversation, it was a completely different Natsu now "Ok, so let's make a deal… you promised to stay today… so today I'm your girlfriend, same if you promise to stay tomorrow, sounds good?"

"I can live with that" He smiled at her, but this was a smile like no other; not his usual grin, nor his fake smile, this was cocky, happy, and confident smile.

"So… like I said…since I am your girlfriend now and you didn't even bother to ask me… I get one request, not negotiable"

"Anything you want Luce" She gave him a wicked smile "The devil's mistress is not allowed to touch you, is that clear?"

"Geez Luce, is not like I was going to let her"

"But you did, at some point" The comment left her mouth with enough poison to melt his face "Luce… I" she stopped him "I don't care, so you… did whatever you did with her, that's in the past. But this is now, and I don't want her touching anything of mine"

Natsu gave Lucy a cocky smile "Oh… didn't know I was yours" he wrapped his arms around her again "Ok, whatever you want. I do need to clarify we didn't do anything… nothing like what you are thinking"

"Fine… anyways we need to get moving" She tried to stand up, but he pulled her closer "But I'm comfy…" she giggled and kissed his cheek "We need to go to the guild"

"I don't wanna… you are too… squishy… like a pillow"

She slapped his forehead "I am not squishy! Anyways, if we don't go Erza will come back… you wouldn't want that would you?"

"FINE…."

They made their way to the guild walking side by side, they held hands which seemed so weird and so natural at the same time. She looked up to the sky and smiled, she was happy… he was back, they were together, and he loved her; but the concern on the back of her head of him not being able to stay and things not being over was still present.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard him inside her head:

 _-Dammit… now what?! Stupid! Stupid! You were supposed to let her go, not drag her down! Ok… calm down, things got a bit overheated… what now? … you can do this without fucking up… can you? -_

She giggled a bit which cause him to turn to her with a confused look "What's so funny?" she shook her head and waved her hand "It's just that you are kind of cute when you blush" she knew speaking her mind was a certain way of keeping him out of her head. When she said that, he blushed even more "I a-ain't blushing! It's just… hot outside"

"Right… January is a hot month" he pouted and crossed his arms above his chest "Whatever Luce…"

They stood at the doors of the guild, still holding hands when Natsu stopped her "Can we… not tell people yet?" Lucy frowned and pouted "Why?"

"Well… for once they'll make a big deal out of it, they'll butt in, gossip and be annoying… we still have things to figure out; also, I just came back, and they all have a thousand questions to ask… I don't want to add another thousand just yet"

Lucy stopped breathing for a second, he was being the rational and sensitive person for once, and she was the one deciding to throw herself into battle without a second thought. She squeezed his hand and gave him a soft sweet kiss "Of course".

They walked inside the guild and made their way to the bar to order some lunch, Mira welcomed them with her sweet big smile as usual "You were gone for a long time…" Mira's eyes twinkled immediately at the possibilities.

Both Natsu and Lucy stood there like statues before Lucy reacted "Yeah… he is hungry… so…"

"Sure! What can I get for you?"

Natsu was about to fall into his usual habit of ordering one of each with a side of fire when he remembered and started pouting "Well… I guess whatever it's fine… just make it spicy. I'm going to talk to Gray for a bit ok?" he turned on his heel and walked away rapidly.

"YO! Happy!" The blue exceed immediately flew to him and crashed against his chest "Where have you been Natsu?" The Dragon Slayer scratched his head and smiled "Just had some stuff to talk about with Luce, but it's all good now"

"So, what did Wendy say about your injuries?"

"They'll scar… but it's ok bud, nothing to worry about"

"Can I see?" Natsu frowned and gave him a serious look "I don't think this is the right place for that bud… but maybe when we go home later ok? Hey! Lucy is getting lunch for us, why don't you get some fish?"

His blue face lightened up with a big smile "AYE SIR!" he flew away straight towards Lucy.

"Ok… so…. What happened with Lucy?" Gray was smirking at him, Natsu took a sit and crossed his arms above his chest "None of your business Ice Princess, actually that's no one's business so could you keep it quiet? "

"And why would I do that?"

Natsu smirked, stood up and got close enough to whisper something in Gray's ear; the Ice Mage went pale immediately and gulped "A secret it is then!"

"You see that wasn't so hard was it?"

"That's blackmail fire breath!"

"What are you going to do about it Ice Stripper?!"

* * *

As soon as Natsu left to meet Gray, Lucy spotted Gajeel sitting with Levy and walked towards them "Hey Lev! Could I steal Gajeel for a second?"

"Sure Lu! As long as you bring him back"

Gajeel rolled his eyes but walked behind Lucy until they were outside of the guild "If I didn't want a Dragon Slayer to listen to the conversation, what would be a safe distance from the guild?"

"Hmm, follow me then" He walked towards the forest, not too far from the guild but enough distance for him not to listen to the loudest guild members "What's on your mind Bunny girl?"

"I need to ask you for a favor… I don't want Natsu to know about our connection… yet"

"Not that I give a shit about it, but you realize he is going to think he's gone mad?"

"I'll take care of that… I just need you to promise to keep it quiet"

"Fine, I won't tell… but you need to know something, if he doesn't know about it, and your bond gets too big for him to handle your fate will be tied to his… you'll be in danger"

She gave him a sweet smile and shook her head "My fate is already tied to his… "


	24. Chapter 24

**OK... SO... I am unsure about how I feel about this chapter for one very particular reason, I have decided to follow someone's wise words of encouragement, and so... this is the first lemon I've ever** **written, which in retrospective may come up as a positive creative exercise so fuck it. Anyways! I apologize if it sucks XD but hell I'm trying here, I promise to practice.**

 **I will be marking the beginning and end of such scenes so if this offends someone you are able to skip it, BEWARE of descriptive sexual scenes in the story below, please avoid reading if this is not your cup of tea.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed."**  
 **― A.S. Byatt, Possession**

* * *

As soon as Natsu left to meet Gray, Lucy spotted Gajeel sitting with Levy and walked towards them "Hey Lev! Could I steal Gajeel for a second?"

"Sure Lu! As long as you bring him back"

Gajeel rolled his eyes but walked behind Lucy until they were outside of the guild "If I didn't want a Dragon Slayer to listen to the conversation, what would be a safe distance from the guild?"

"Hmm, follow me then" He walked towards the forest, not too far from the guild but enough distance for him not to listen to the loudest guild members "What's on your mind Bunny girl?"

"I need to ask you for a favor… I don't want Natsu to know about our connection… yet"

"Not that I give a shit about it, but you realize he is going to think he's gone mad?"

"I'll take care of that… I just need you to promise to keep it quiet"

"Fine, I won't tell… but you need to know something, if he doesn't know about it, and your bond gets too big for him to handle your fate will be tied to his… you'll be in danger"

She gave him a sweet smile and shook her head "My fate is already tied to his…"

Gajeel looked at her with a baffled expression, "You don't know what you are saying, this is serious shit Lucy!" she wasn't used to him calling her by her actual name, so, when he did she took a small step back and stayed quiet while she got her thoughts together "You think you know the risk that both would be in, if what you are saying is true?"

"Of course I do! I know what's at stake here Gajeel, who do you take me for?"

"An idiot!" she stomped her foot and raised her finger in an accusatory manner but was immediately cut off by the angry Dragon Slayer "Seriously! Do you have an idea on how many enemies he has now? If what you are saying is true and someone was to find out…"

"Oh…" She cursed at herself, she was being stupid… if any of the dark guilds, enemies, demons o council wanted to take him down, and their fates were in fact entwined they only had to get to her in order to finish him "What would happen? If I die would that automatically kill him?"

"No, of course not… knowing Salamander…" He looked at her and sighed "Look he doesn't know any of this so I ain't tellin' ya shit… this is a Dragon thing so it's none of your business"

Lucy stood in front of him and did a sad attempt to push him back, which only managed to amuse him "Is that the best you've got?".

Hot tears made her sight blurry, but she stood her ground; this wasn't the first time she had stood up to Gajeel Redfox and taking in consideration the first one had lots of pain involved, she wasn't going to let him intimidate her "This IS as much his business as it is mine! Listen to me metal breath… I need to know! I love him, and he loves me… I need to know"

"This ain't a conversation I want to have with you blondie! Drop it…"

"Oh, have you had it with Levy then?" He turned around and dragged his hands on his hair "HA! I knew it! You don't care about Natsu not knowing, you just don't want Levy to know"

"YET! she knows some of it! I just don't want to talk about it… yet"

"Ok, so this makes it simpler… you can tell me and I can promise not to say a thing until you are ready to talk to her" she took her right hand to her hip, leaned over and raised a finger in front of his face "OR I can just make her real curious about it, so she will ask you and then wait for her to tell me about it… you know that won't take much effort"

Gajeel blinked a couple of times before grunting "I was wrong… MiraJane ain't the devil… you are. I thought you were above blackmail bunny girl" she smirked and tilted her head "Who said I was?"

He shook his head to try to clear his mind "Look I don't know much ok? You need to keep in mind that I may have been older but was still pretty young" Lucy nodded and signaled him to continue "As far as I know… is not as if… ok so if I hit him, it is not going to hurt you ok? But he could sense you are in danger and his senses will help him find you"

"So that seems pretty handy, I mean if nothing would happen to him if I get hurt, they why are you so worried?"

"I never said nothing would happen…" Gajeel sat on a rock and rested his elbows on his knees "For Mages… life force is tied to their magic, so… that's similar with all magical creatures… including Dragons; when they choose a mate their magic and life force gets tangled, it becomes their reason for existing… and if they lose their mate…"

"They lose the reason to be alive…"

"Yeah… so, it's a safe bet to say dragon slayers are similar in that way. He would probably go nuclear… turning every corner of the land to ashes, and after causing more destruction that what he can ever forgive himself for, he would just let death take him away…"

"He would never surrender"

"He's done it more than once" she frowned at him trying to make sense of what he was saying, maybe she just didn't want to see it "Shit you are dumb after all… ok so maybe he didn't "Let death claim him"… but what he did when he went to the council, how would you call that? He ain't that stupid, he knew they would kill him… how about knowing that killing his crazy ass brother would take him out?"

"Ok… so then we make sure he doesn't. I'll need to train and he can't help me"

"He won't allow any of us to hurt you, even if it's for training; and if you two are truly bonded then we won't be able to hide it from him"

"OK… so we need to determine if we are; and if that's the case then you will have to explain this to him but not all. I have the feeling he is still hiding something dangerous…"

"Geez Blondie… anything else?"

"Now that you mention it… yeah… two things actually. First, I got this book that speaks about Dragons, but I can't understand the language"

"Why don't you ask Shrimp to do it?" He raised an eyebrow as if it was obvious "Sure, if you want whatever is in there to be known by her and not you, I can go to her first"

"I'll look at it, but I can assure you it'll be no good… I ain't good with that stuff. What's the second thing?"

"Am… well, we kind of need to know if I'm bonded with him, so… I may need a bit of help"

"What do you want me to do?" Gajeel used his snarkiest tone to mock Lucy "Push you down the hill?"

* * *

Back at the guild Natsu was still sitting with Gray; Mira had brought his and Lucy's food and it weirded everyone out that he didn't immediately dig in, but instead was patiently waiting for Lucy to come back.

"Wow… so is that serious uhm?" Natsu raised his eyebrow and stared before the ice mage rolled his eyes "I have never seen you let your food get cold, and I've known you my whole life flame-brain, doesn't take a genius to connect the dots"

Before he could formulate his response his nose alerted him of a presence he would spend the rest of his time in Magnolia trying to avoid.

"Hi Pyro! Did you ditch the ditz already?" Merryl had rushed to her temporary accommodations to change as soon as she saw the display of affection between Natsu and Lucy at the train station. She was wearing a pair of black knee length boots along with a pair of tight blue shorts, and a black lace long sleeve body with a deep cleavage.

"Call her a ditz one more fucking time and I'll…" Merryl laughed immediately "You what? You'll burn me to a crisp? Been there, done that sugar… but you are out of juice for now, so I guess we are both set for disappointment"

She leaned over pressing her breasts to his shoulders and wrapping her arms on him from behind. Gray was startled by what he saw; his friend's expression went from the annoyed one he had after being question, to a cold, emotionless one. If the Ice Mage didn't know his friend's face so well he would have sworn the man sitting across from him was someone else.

"Hands off"

"I want to show you how much I care about you, just let me show you lover boy… you won't regret it"

Gray saw something dangerous in Natsu's eyes and tried to intervene "Hey looney bin, I think you better listen to the man and let him be"

"What ice cube? You want him too? I can tell you he doesn't swing that way" Gray hissed at her comment and planned to retort when she decided to lick the shell of Natsu's ear

In a swift motion Natsu peeled her hands of his neck, stood up and turned to push her against the wall,

"I said… hands off"

To say the woman had a thing for toxic relationships was an understatement as establish from the look of excitement in her face after being shoved. She walked closer again "Wow I didn't know you were into this type of stuff" he pushed her a second time, stronger now "you become more interesting by the minute"

The rest of the guild was stunned by the violent display and in a few seconds both Gray and Erza were standing next to him "Natsu! Just ignore her, come on!"

He didn't listen to them, he couldn't… he was too tired, suffering from both sleep and magic deprivation and the only thing holding him together was Lucy.

-I promised-I promised-I promised- promises are important for Lucy, I can't break any promises to her, not ever-not ever-not ever

Gray was trying to pull Natsu's by the shoulder, but it was like trying to move a statue "What the hell Natsu?"

He shook Gray's hand off and got close enough to whisper in her ear "I don't need to burn you to a crisp to break your shit psycho". He felt a sudden pull on his chest and immediately started looking everywhere; he could hear his pulse and all the other sounds became background noise "Lucy…"

Natsu took his impulse and ran out of the guild leaving everyone in a confused state. He could feel as if his mind was breaking, as if he was falling from a cliff while looking at the ground; he ran as fast as he could, not caring if he was hit by the branches on his way, it wasn't long before he found her, cleaning the tears from her face.

"Lucy! What happened? Are you ok?"

"Yeah… I'm such a clutz, I fell… w-what are you doing here?"

"I'm… not sure… wait you said you fell?" She nodded, and his expression changed; he showed his fangs in an intimidating gesture "What's he doing here?"

Gajeel slammed his hand against his face and started walking down the hill "Oi, bunny! You ok?" she waved gesturing as if it was nothing "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine" They both heard a small growl coming from the back of Natsu's throat, but it soon died when he saw Lucy trying to stand up only to fall back on her butt. He rushed to her and picked her up before giving Gajeel a dirty look.

"Stop it Natsu! He was just here helping me with some stuff… can we go back to the guild? I promise I'll explain everything later ok?" She smiled at him and he allowed himself to melt under her gaze once more.

The three of them walked back to the guild, and as soon as they crossed the doors Lucy could tell something was off. Half of the guild was giving Natsu a nasty look and the other half was avoiding to stare for too long.

"Wendy! Can you take a look at Lucy's leg?"

"Sure! Lucy what happened?" Natsu raised an eyebrow "Oh she SAYS she fell…"

Erza grabbed Natsu by the shoulder and squeezed "Is that why you left all of the sudden? You have some explaining to do" Lucy was extremely confused; Natsu sat her down and walked towards Merryl, he could smell her fear mixed with arousal, but on the outside, she showed no changes.

"I had promised I wouldn't hurt you again, and I did… I apologize for that, but you need to stop this… whatever it is that you have going on"

"What if I don't?"

"Don't Merryl… I'm asking nicely"

"I like it better when you don't"

Lucy didn't know what took over her, she limped her way there and stood between him and Merryl "Whichever way he asked, I can assure you he was nicer than what I would be"

There was a general gasp from the guild; they all knew she was temperamental, but this was definitely new for them. Natsu cleared his throat "Luce…"

"Bring it on girly!" Lucy took a step forward but was quickly stopped when he wrapped his arms around her waist; she pulled a bit, then she stopped and smiled at the redhead before grabbing both of Natsu's hands and pulling them to her hips; she leaned back and rested on his chest without saying a word.

Natsu was blushing, his eyes went around the guild inspecting everyone's faces; most were gawking, a few nodding, and a couple of more, like Cana were giving him a thumbs up. The redhead couldn't take the humiliation anymore, she stormed out again leaving nothing but silence behind her.

The realization of the scene that had taken place hit Lucy like a bucket of cold water "W-what did I just…" Natsu ruffled her hair "yeah…"

"So they probably figured that…" he took a deep breath "Yeah…" she felt so bad, the one thing he had asked was for them to keep things quiet for now "I'm s-so sorry!" before he could respond, they were tackled by the guild who had now forgotten all about Natsu's anger display.

They were suddenly bombarded by the ten thousand questions where several limits of respect for privacy were broken.

"Are you together now!?", "Is it official", "When did you get together?!", "Did you hit that already!?", last one earned Cana a smack on the head by an angry bartender. He felt a bit overwhelmed, so when she squeezed his hand, he decided to let her take the lead.

"OK! Yes, kind of, not long ago... and NO CANA… now… we still have a lot to figure out, we are tired, and you butting in will NOT I repeat… WILL NOT help at all, ok?"

The voices became whispers, but as soon as Erza turned to look at them, silence took over

"Indeed… it won't help one bit, and we all understand Lucy"

"Thanks guys!" she turned to Natsu and grabbed his hand "Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag… the food is probably cold already, I'm sorry" she pouted and he couldn't believe how that silly gesture could look so amazingly cute on someone "I don't mind… let's finish up and look for something to do"

They took their usual table with Erza, Gray and Happy; Gray was still in shock about Natsu eating cold food and smiling about it, and he was still quite concerned about his friend's sudden change in demeanor, but he was willing to put that on hold for now.

"Natsu! I knew you two liked each other, why didn't you tell me first? I'm your best friend"

"I'm sorry bud! It kind of… just happened"

"Those things don't just happen Natsu"

"Of course they do Happy… maybe not to you…" Happy opened his mouth to respond to Lucy's comments before flying on to Natsu's chest "Lucy is being mean again!" He patted his head and gave Lucy a disapproving look "Aw Bud, I'm sure she didn't mean to; Carla will come around sooner or later, you'll see!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry Happy… I was just teasing you" Happy cleaned his face and sniffed "Really?" she smiled and scratched behind his ear "Of course! I'm sure one of these days she will gladly take your fish"

"AYE! I'll go try right now" and with that, the blue exceed went to find the object of his affection, leaving the four mages behind.

They finished their meal and left the guild to find something to do, after all they still had one full day to kill before Natsu could sleep. He had asked if they could stay at his house, he knew it was easier for their friends to make their way to her apartment and they would never think Lucy would agree to stay in his place.

Lucy decided it was best to take a short trip to the store before, since there would be no food, snacks or drinks in his house. Shopping was done quickly and immediately after they were on their way.

She had been to his place before, but it still amazed her how all the noises from town were left behind; Lucy could hear the wind blowing and moving every leaf, whistling through the mountains and the branches of the trees. The sun was going down and with it the temperature descended, they still had some walking to do, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulder to keep her warm.

They walked through the dirt path surrounded by trees until his house was visible, it was small and quiet; Luckily for Lucy, the place was not as messy as it was the first time she saw it; she remembered the time she had sneaked into his house just to get revenge at him for barging into her place without permission, only to end up cleaning the place up.

The house had been remodeled over time, mostly after their scavenger hunt to find the First Master's chest that was buried under the tree inside Natsu's house, along with the devastating wars that had almost cost them everything; it now had an actual bedroom for him to sleep in instead of his hammock, a full kitchen which was mostly clean since they barely ate there, and an actual couch and coffee table; the one thing that hadn't changed about the house was Natsu's wall; it was still filled with all the request he had completed, memorabilia from different missions and some pictures too.

"The place looks great, when did you buy all the stuff?"

"Hmm… just little by little, I'm glad you like it. Er… do you want something to drink?

"Sure, I'll take some tea"

After a minute she heard him mumble under his breath "shit…" she turned around to see him staring at the matches "What are you doing?"

"Can you turn the stupid stove on for me?"

She giggled and went to assist him, she lit the match and turned the knob completing her task with a "Ta-da!". Natsu pouted and gave her an annoyed growl "It ain't funny! You know how frustrating this is?"

"Ok, what is this about?"

"Tsk...I… my hands started shaking… I really… really wanted to eat it"

She felt bad for him, this was probably the longest time he had spent without eating fire, and yes… it would usually be ok, but he would definitely need it after a battle and to help him heal.

"I know… but this is something you are going to have to get used to, and I'll help" despite of her words, he got a beer and sat with an angry face on the couch; he rested his head of the back and closed his eyes.

He felt movement and noticed Lucy sitting next to him "What?"

"You look cute when you pout"

"AM NOT!" she giggled which made him a bit upset but it was all washed away when her hand reached a lock of his hair and started playing with it. He watched her as she twisted the strand which such concentration that she seemed to be solving a world class problem; her eyes were wide open, and her tongue was licking her upper lip.

"There! I'm done" He reached for his hair to find a small tight braid on it "Hey! Stop braiding my hair" she started laughing and let herself fall on the armrest of the couch; Natsu took advantage of this and grabbed both of her feet with one arm to tickle her.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!"

"Do you surrender!?"

"NEVER" he laughed loudly and smirked at her "Then you leave me no choice!" he released her feet and threw himself at her to tickle her stomach without giving her a second to rest.

"FINE! I Surrender" They were both still laughing and trying to catch their breaths, when they noticed how close they were. He was basically on top of her, kneeling between her legs, one hand on each side of her, and his face no more than eight inches away from hers.

Natsu moved his hand and brushed her hair behind her ear; she wrapped her arms around his neck to let him know she was fine with their closeness. He reduced the distance between them and licked her bottom lip causing her to gasp; he took the opportunity and dipped his tongue in her mouth inspecting every corner he could reach.

Things got heated quickly and Lucy needed to feel more of him, they had been avoiding their feelings for far too long and things were so bottled up by now, that she thought things would explode somewhere if she didn't touch more of him. She grabbed his vest and tried to push it off, he took the hint and quickly broke the kiss to toss the offending piece of clothes somewhere on the floor.

 **XXX - Stop reading if you are** **allergic** **to** **critics** **or underage - XXX**

Natsu grabbed Lucy's chin and turned her face to expose her porcelain neck, before licking her jaw line and sucking on the spot below her ear eliciting a soft moan from her lips; he was sure this woman would be his doom. He led his hand to her left breast and grabbed it firmly, he could feel her hard nipples through the thin cotton fabric.

Natsu's mind was clouded with lust, he decided to experiment a bit, so he brushed his thumb against her hard nipple and he was not disappointed when he felt her arch her back and whisper "N-Natsu", he loved the sound of his name coming from her warm lips and he knew then and there that whatever mission he had, he wouldn't be able to complete it if it meant to leave her.

Lucy dug her nails on his back leaving red thin lines behind, and he growled with a mix of pain and excitement; she grabbed his hair and pulled his head to the side before pulling him to bite his neck; he released a growl and without noticing, his hands went to her hips and he pulled her to him; she felt his length on her tight and instinctively grinded against him which only made him tighten his grip on her hips.

Natsu pulled her shirt up and she helped him remove it, before she realized he was eagerly trying to reach the brooch of her bra in a clumsy way.

"Need any help with that?"

"I've got this! This thing ain't defeating me!"

"Nuh uh! You'll rip it" She sat up and blushed while she unhooked her bra, still grabbing it against her skin to gain the courage to be as exposed as she was about to be.

His breath got caught in his lungs and he gulped when he saw her finally removing the clothing item and covering herself with her own hands.

Natsu kissed her and leaned over her causing her to lay back down, he grabbed her hands and slowly removed them to reveal her perfect mounds and rosy peaks "You are the most perfect woman that has ever existed…" he kissed her again before grabbing both naked breasts with his hands; he kissed down her neck and continued south, he gave an experimental lick to her nipple causing her to shiver, and he needed no more direction after that. He sucked on her right breast while his other hand took care of her left one, and he eventually switched to avoid negligence on the task at hand.

Lucy said his name frequently and arched her back to meet him; he had scratches on his back from her fingernails, she had a few red and purple marks on her chest and neck, but they didn't care.

It took every bit of power within him, but he managed to stop and separate himself from her, he looked her in the eye with seriousness he rarely displayed "Do you want to stop?" she looked at him with such love that he felt his heart skip a bit. She sat up and pushed him to sit before reaching for his belt to try to remove it.

"Luce…" She smiled but didn't stop her actions "Natsu?"

"It's ok if you want to stop… we haven't been together for more than… a few hours and you should be sure it is me that you want" She looked at him as if he had grown a second head in the last couple of seconds "If I'm sure? let us recap… you gave me a home" she gave him a sweet kiss on his cheek right above his scar "I've stuck with you craziness throughout the years" she kissed his left cheek "And my life would be so sad without you that I would rather go rogue against the council than losing you… how more sure do you want me to be?"

Natsu brushed his thumb against her cheek and brought her closer to kiss her lips, the momentum grew again from sweet to passionate until Lucy continued fighting with his belt; she proceeded to undo his pants without separating their lips, and he raised himself a bit to help remove his pants along with his boxers.

It was weird for him; he had always felt as if nakedness wasn't an issue, but for some reason, in this moment with her, he felt much more expose than what he had ever felt before. At that moment he decided Lucy was wearing too many clothes in comparison and practically ripped her skirt off which cause her to gasp.

Natsu hooked his hand under her knee and pulled her on top of him letting his hand rest on her upper tight and squeezing hard which would probably leave a small bruise; he allowed his fingers to explore a bit further in the inside of her tight until he softly brushed the skin surrounding the rim of her underwear.

He felt completely intoxicated by her scent and every time he touched somewhere she liked, he felt something inside him pulse, this sensation became stronger when his thumb made its way underneath the pink lace fabric to touch the inside of her wet folds. She moaned his name and he swallowed the sound as if it was water in the desert; he sucked on her breast again in a greedy way, and Lucy pulled his face further while grinding against his hand.

Lucy pushed him away causing him to whine a bit, she stood up and turned her back to him before hooking her fingers to the sides of her panties and bending over to pull them down; she barely had time to toss them when she felt his hands on her hips pulling her down to his lap.

He bit her nape and licked her skin while his hand explored her wet folds until he found a bundle of nerves that made her drop her head on his shoulder and moan loudly. He drew circles on it and allowed her sounds to guide him, she was liquid fire and he was holding her in his hands.

Natsu moved his hand below and brushed her entrance before inserting one finger, he moved it in circles before pulling it out slowly and inserting it back in. Her breath was choked and and he smirked against her skin before moving his other hand from her breast to her clit to rub it gently in a steady motion. He could feel she was close, he wanted to feel her release that delicious tension. He decided to up the stakes and inserted a second digit while keeping his steady motions with both hands.

She felt a nod in her lower stomach and a rush that almost made her stop breathing all at once, it was too much for her; like facing a volcano to wait for it to violently explode. Natsu felt her body stiffen, but not in a bad way, he saw her biting her lip and increased the speed of his ministrations until her body was shaking and her legs went limp above him.

She was panting and her head felt dizzy all of the sudden; she had never felt so together like in that moment and not just because of the unmeasurable passion… she had found the person that completed her in every single aspect. Natsu wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck, he took a deep breath and allowed her scent to invade his nose.

"Vanilla and lavender… I love that smell"

She giggled and blushed a bit, before laying her hands above his "You smell like cinnamon… and camp fires in the forest" he licked the shell of her ear then down her neck while speaking to her "I need you to know I am never leaving your side now… you are very much screwed" she pushed her hips against him and barely whispered "Who said you would be allowed to leave" she smiled and pushed her hips against his still throbbing member "I think the couch is too small" He blinked a couple of times before giving her a huge toothy grin "I think it is".

Natsu picked her up as if she was light as a feather and threw her above his shoulder to make his way to the barely used bedroom.

"And I guess your hand is on my ass because of safety?"

"Of course! Wouldn't want you to fall Luce!"

He threw her on the mattress earning a small yelp from the blond celestial mage before sitting at the foot of the bed "Are you still sure?" she nodded, and he smiled at her lovingly still wondering how someone like him could be so lucky.

Natsu grabbed her foot and kissed her ankle, then her calf, the inside of her tight; he noticed she held her breath and though that would be something interesting to investigate later on.

He was now facing her and couldn't find one ounce of doubt in her beautiful brown eyes and he kissed her softly, then deeply until both their minds were too fuzzy to think of anything else; it was as it nothing else existed in the entire world aside from them.

Lucy lowered her hand and stroke him softly, and he could only rest his head on her shoulder. She pumped a few times before she felt him kissing her neck again, trying to get some of the control back. She had read many books, heard many stories and kind of knew how this was supposed to go, however, theory and practice were not the same, she was sure of it.

He circled her entranced for a bit, soaking himself in her scent "Luce…" she closed her eyes and pushed her hips down to allowed the tip inside of her while she bit his earlobe; he growled a bit harder and teased her entrance earning a few short gasps.

Natsu had to ask once more, he was scared at some point he would wake up and find himself still being held in that God forsaken cell "Sure?" she bit harder and then kissed his neck "Stop asking silly, I'm not leaving…"

He kissed her forehead and slowly pushed himself inside of her, he had only heard how this was supposed to go and wanted to cause as little pain to her as possible; he felt her stiffen and dig her nails on his back again so he stopped and rubbed his thumb on her cheek, he kiss her forehead, her cheeks, both eyes, her nose and finally her lips; when he felt her relax he pushed a bit further until he was completely inside of her.

They held to each other for a couple of minutes, for him it felt like he tried to contain himself for hours but he was committed to do whatever she needed him to do. Lucy ran her fingers through his nape and pulled him for a kiss, Natsu opened his mouth and took her in slowly gaining back heat, he looked at her expectantly and she melted under his gaze; she saw the love and concern in his eyes and she nodded signaling him to continue.

Natsu slowly pulled out a bit before thrusting back in, he was surprised about how much this felt as when he lit himself on fire, but better for obvious reasons; he straightened himself up while still inside of her just to take a good look at the woman sharing his bed and he noticed something he had done made her bite her lip… a sudden light bulb lit up in his brain and he pulled her hips up with his hands before thrusting back in, he felt himself going deeper inside of her and she moaned harder than before.

The sounds Lucy made were quickly becoming his fuel and encouragement, and he kept a steady rhythm while he held her, he was extremely focused in the task in front of him and her commanding voice startled him with one request "Harder" he knew he wouldn't last much longer but his competitive personality wouldn't let him fail facing such a challenge.

He managed to hold her with one arm while his other hand used its new found liberty to find her pink pleasure button, he rubbed circles on it and pounced harder and faster until he felt her walls tighten around his hardness, she started pulsing around him and he finally decided to let go and released himself inside of her.

 **XXX - Ok here's some Benadryl for the allergies, you can continue reading - XXX**

They were both trying to catch their breaths when Natsu pulled out and pulled her to his chest, he kissed her forehead again and brushed her hair with his fingers "Are you ok?"

"I'm better than ok… I don't think I've ever been this happy" he felt in cloud nine, nothing absolutely nothing mattered in that moment; or so he thought when he heard her stomach growl, he didn't try to contain his laughter, he hadn't felt like laughing in so long… she had the power to make everything better.

"Stop laughing idiot! Is not funny!"

"Of course it is!" He saw her pout and kissed her nose "Ok… wait here and get some rest, I'll be back" he covered her with a blanket and saw her hugging a pillow before making his way to the kitchen.

"Ok… so it is… what 1:00 AM? Man… there's still lots of hours to go…"

It took about half an hour but he was able to put together a decent plate for both of them before making it back to the room with a tray.

"Luce?... are you sleeping?"

"Natsu did you barge in again?... get out of my bed…" she was definitely sleeping, which amused him taking in consideration their current situation "But Luce… you are in my bed…"

"Am not… take your stupid cat out of my refrigerator…"

"Luce… you realize you are naked in my bed right?"

She immediately opened her eyes and covered herself with the sheet before seeing Natsu biting his lip to avoid laughing "You are such an ass!"

"Yes I am, but I'm an ass that made you some food! That should count for something" she smiled and then went back to blushing when she realized they were both still naked.

"Dig in! I brought some juice, toast, eggs and bacon"

"Did you burn your kitchen doing this?"

"I did not, AND I cleaned after cooking"

"Mr. Dragneel you are saying all the right things today" she winked at him before reaching for her orange juice, and they both ate in the peace and quiet of Natsu's house. After that they just cuddled for a bit, he dragged his fingers through her now messy hair, and she brushed hers up and down his chest.

"C-can I ask you something?"

"Yes you can… but I may not be able to answer for you"

"Ok… why didn't you take me with you… during that year?"

"Damn Luce…" he sighed heavily "I… didn't want anyone to see me so… I was in bad shape; my father had died in front of me and I needed time to put myself together"

"You should have trusted me at least…"

"I trust you more than I trust myself Luce… but you were the last person I wanted to see me like that; it may be stupid but I need to feel strong when I'm around you, I need you to know I'll save you from whatever evil we are facing…" Although the answer made her sad he felt such a responsibility, she couldn't help to feel happy about the fact he was actually sharing his real feelings

"But I do know that… you would never leave me alone" she laid on her stomach and rested her chin on his chest "What did you do during that trip?"

"You know I trained" she rolled her eyes and smacked his chest "Duh… I mean what else"

He bit the inside of his cheek and held her tight "I drank a full village worth of alcohol and apparently yelled "Suck it Cana" while sitting in the town's fountain, destroyed a portion of a forest during a bad ahem… episode, then apologized and dedicated the next month to reforest, learned some stuff about my brother and his followers and trained until I came back home"

"Wait a second! Let's go back a little bit" he shook his head and huffed "You see… I knew you were not going to let it go…"

"Are you crazy! Of course not… what did you learn about him"

"Luce… I… let's just say that he died but he left a bunch of crazy behind ok? There may be an empty throne in the demon chair, but… there's not shortage of servants"

"And how do you feel about him?"

"You are full of questions tonight aren't you?... Well... I hate him for everything he did… but I'm also thankful, I despise all of his actions, but I feel sorry for him… I feel guilty too" She gave him a puzzled look and he knew this wouldn't be something she would let go easily "He started all of this to bring me back, because he loved me that much Luce… he sacrificed his soul and was cursed because he couldn't deal with the fact that I had died… I died! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him, Anna, Igneel… your mother… she is also dead because of us…"

"Hey! Listen to me… you didn't cause my mother to die, she made a choice to save our world, and I would have done the same, I do not blame you not the others"

"That's just because you are perfect and forgiving, your heart's too big for your own good"

They kept cuddling and accidentally fell asleep, however this time the nightmares stayed away and for the first time in months, Natsu was able to enjoy a full night of sleep… sadly it would be the last for some time.

It was early in the morning when Natsu opened his eyes and noticed the light outside, he squeezed Lucy tightly and nuzzled her head "Morning…" She smiled and pressed her cheek against his chest "Morning"

"Morning!" The voice startled both mages getting them abruptly out of their cloud and causing Lucy to scream and kick "KYAAAAAA" ; Happy was thrown out of the bed and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Luuuucy! That hurts!"

"W-what are you doing here cat!"

"Oh Lucy… you are so dumb… I live here! I should be the one asking what YOU are doing here…"

"Oh… w-well" She started stuttering and Natsu decided to provide some much-needed assistance "I needed someone to make sure I didn't use magic in my sleep, so, I asked her to stay as a favor" Lucy released a breath she didn't know she was holding, of course someone as naïve as Happy would buy that…

"Ok, was the nakedness part of the "favor" too? Also, I should add you both get… grabby… in your sleep"

Both Natsu and Lucy went through the full scheme of colors in a matter of seconds, before deciding to come clean with Happy and beg for his silence, and begging included of course negotiation about the amount, time and frequency of his payment in fish, and a promise that Lucy would keep her violent outbursts to a minimum.

"Eww Natsu… I'm never sleeping in your bed ever again!"

"You may want to stay off the couch too then…"

"That's it! You are building a room for me and buying me a bed!"

"Geez Happy… relax a little would you?"

"Stop it! YOU! Stop discussing this with your stupid cat! And you… if you ever want to see payment you better shut your trap!"

"Aye…"

Natsu shrug and walked towards Lucy to wrap his arms around her tightly "Do you want to stay in today? We don't have to see the old woman until later" he kissed her nape and she hummed out of happiness.

"I need to go to the guild to see Gajeel" Natsu immediately stiffen his arms "Why?"

"I asked him to take a look at something yesterday… so I need to take it to the guild" Lucy shut her eyes for a bit "He also said he needed to talk to you about some stuff"

She heard him growl a bit, but he noticed he relaxed and nodded on her neck "Fine… we should catch some lunch while we are there"

They made their way to the guild, first hand in hand until Happy decided to swing between them; each holding one paw and letting him swing like a little child. Everyone who crossed their path observed the scene and smiled at them as if it just made sense.

Natsu kicked the door open as he usually did, the only difference people could recognize was he was clingier than usual with the blonde celestial mage; he refused to leave her side and held her hand protectively.

"What's up with you?" he hugged her and nuzzled her neck "Nothing, I'm just happy… and better rested"

Happy snickered and opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Lucy "WE have a deal… so shut it cat" The blue exceed shrugged and landed on the bar to order his usual.

"Hey, can you get us some food? I need to ask Levy a couple of things" He whined a bit and held her hand tighter "Oh come on! I'll be back in a few minutes, I promise"

He huffed and crossed his arms "Fine! I'll get the food…" Mira couldn't help but notice he followed her with his eyes as if making sure she would come back.

"Oh my… you've got it bad don't you?" He gave her a puzzled look and frowned "Well… you are acting like a cute puppy waiting for a steak"

"OI! I ain't a cute puppy!" Mira giggled and nodded before going to the kitchen to get their food. Natsu wasn't pleased with her comment; he loved Lucy more than what he thought possible, but did he really look that desperate? He started feeling kind of anxious, almost as if the skin under his nape was itchy, but he decided to disregard that.

Mira came back with their food in no time; he balanced every plate towards their usual table where Gray and Erza were waiting for them. He sat down and searched for Lucy with his eyes; he tapped his foot on the floor and waited without noticing the look both Erza and Gray gave him.

"I told you… he is doing it again"

"Indeed… this is weird… for him"

"What are you too mumbling about? I'm right in front of you!"

"Why aren't you eating?" He shrugged and responded nonchalantly "I'm waiting for Luce"

"We get that Flame-brain… but why are you waiting for her? You've been partners for years and she usually has to fight to keep her food on her plate"

He took a second to consider what they said, he never felt the need of waiting for someone to get their food before, so why would he do it now? He was about to reach for one of the plates when Lucy started walking back to the table, and he instinctively retrieved his hand in a gesture similar to a kid being caught getting a cookie without permission.

Both Gray and Erza decided not to mention this when Lucy arrived to the table, another thing they noticed was the certain skip in the blonde's merry walk, and how their closeness seemed to be even more personal than before.

"This looks so good! What is is?" He passed the plate and shrugged "Stew or something, Mira made it and said you would love it"

"Ok, what did you get" He smiled again "I got a burger, some extra spicy chicken wings, and fries, and… why are you making that face?"

"Your fries look so good...even the chicken wings although I'll probably die trying to eat them…" He didn't think about it and pushed his plate closer to her "you can have my fries, and some wings, but I agree those will burn your lips" he brushed his finger on her bottom lip softly, forgetting everything about the two people audience in front of them.

"Guys could you please stop doing that… you are weirding me out…" For some reason despite of the obviousness of Gray's comment, Lucy and Natsu didn't understand what he meant. Lunch went by as usual with the regular arguments, of course it was calmer since Natsu and Gray were aware that a fight could lead to instinctive magic use and chaos.

Gajeel entered the guild while they were still eating; Natsu and Gajeel stared at each other and gave a quick nod but there was something different about the interaction.

The Fire Dragon slayer had barely finished his food when he heard Gajeel's voice from the distance, it wouldn't have been noticeable if not for his enhanced hearing "Need to talk, training field in ten minutes" he merely nodded and continued engaging in small talk with his friends.

He told Lucy where he was going and caught up with Gajeel quickly, he was already waiting for him with his unfriendly mug.

"Yo… what's up metal head?"

Neither was good at this type of thing so there was an awkward silence for a bit before Gajeel started in the worst way possible "I'm training Bunny girl, she asked me to"

"The fuck you are… you are not laying a finger on her"

Gajeel smirked at him and shook his head "Now that's the instinct talking, but I need the goof ball idiot to listen, not the Dragon…"

"Two minutes…"

"Fuck you, I'll take as long as I need and you can't do shit about it right now" Natsu huffed and balled his heads, but still remained quiet "She is going to be in danger, and she will put you in danger too; she needs to know how to fight back and not only with her spirits"

"I can protect her" Gajeel sighed "No, you can't… you've bonded with her, she's your mate, if she dies that'll kill you, and if you die… well she ain't a dragon but I'm guessing it goes both ways"

"That's Bullshit… we've been almost dead many times"

"Not the same… that was before. You hadn't accepted your feelings yet"

"I don't have time for this Gajeel" He brushed his fingers through his back hair and mumbled "Dammit… I told her he wouldn't listen" Natsu immediately turned around and got closer to his friend with a stare that Gajeel couldn't decipher if it was more surprised or angered.

"What did you say?"

"You know exactly what I said flame boy; Lucy wants me to train her because she knows you are bonded, and she's known for some time now. She knows that by not training herself, she will put both of you in danger"

In a second, thousands of possibilities sparked through his brain, he had no choice. The night before he had let himself be engulfed by his love and desire for his partner, and with that addictive love, came the realization that he shouldn't, couldn't and wouldn't leave her side, not then, not ever.

He was well aware that succeeding on the mission the council had given him, didn't mean he would survive it, come back in one piece, or even come back with his mind intact; he had been fine with that decision as long as it meant keeping his family safe… but knowing that whatever happened to him would also affect Lucy and maybe even cost her life…

He realized that he would be basically standing between a rock and a hard place when it came to it, this idea made him feel more anxious; the itching on his nape became stronger and the only reason why we didn't surrender to scratching his skin off was the demonic contraption on his neck.

Bottom line… if didn't complete his assignment she would be in danger, and if he did she would too…

"Do it… " Gajeel looked at him, there was something pleading desperately in his eyes and he couldn't help but to feel bad for the younger slayer "I need to undo this… I have to undo this…"

"You can't; she made her choice… she knew the consequences"

Natsu felt anger crawling into his chest, he couldn't help but think on how selfish she was by making this decision without telling him, not trusting him enough; although he knew he would have done worse, he still couldn't accept it.

Gajeel walked away and left him to his thoughts, he walked back to the guild and as soon as he entered he was questioned by Lucy.

"Did you talk to him?" she only got a nod as a response "How did he take it?" Gajeel shrugged "He didn't say much, he also didn't look happy about it but he agreed to me training you"

"Oh, well it can't be that bad if he agreed at the end… Oh, by the way this is the book I told you about" she handed her the scaly looking book, Gajeel brushed his fingers on it and smelled the cover.

"It smells like dragon alright…" He gave Lucy a cocky smirk "But so do you…"

She blushed four shades darker than usual but before she could answer she noticed Gajeel's expression going completely serious; she felt something behind her before hearing his voice.

"We are going home Lucy" She turned giving her best sweet practice smiled "B-but we just got here!" He looked angry, she knew as angry as he could ever be she would be forgiven in no time, but still the sight of angry Natsu wasn't pretty.

"Now Lucy… you and I have stuff to talk about" She lowered her head and walked next to him all the way back to his house, he was extremely quiet on the way back; she could barely keep up with his speed but she managed to stay close.

Once home he went to the refrigerator, got a beer and drank half of it in one gulp "What the fuck were you thinking?! Seriously Luce!"

"Hey! don't you dare talk to me like that Natsu Dragneel"

"Oh no, you are not making this about you being mad, nuh uh! I know that trick" She was surprised, how the hell did he know… "You knew! you pushed me to come clean about how I felt when you knew I could put you in danger?"

"Oh come on! I'm the one putting you in danger, if someone wants to take you down they just need to get to me!"

"I would never let that happen!"

"You don't even know if you'll be here next week! How the hell are you planning to protect me forever?" he felt a sharp pain in his chest, he couldn't keep her safe if he wasn't around… could he?

"If you would have let things be, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"If I had let things be you would be dead!

"It was not your choice to make! You said you made your choice and I accepted it, but you… you took away my choice in this matter; do you think I would want to live with myself if something happened to you?"

"I won't let that happen! I'm going to train and become stronger and everything will be ok"

"WHY ARE YOU SO STUBBORN?"

"WHY ARE YOU SUCH A HYPOCRITE? YOU WOULD DO THE SAME"

"STOP BEING SO SELFISH LUCE!"

"STOP ACTING LIKE YOUR WORD IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS!"

The itching on his neck was getting stronger by the second and he couldn't take it anymore, he gave it an angry glare "GEEZ LUCE… Just shut up!" he stomped towards her and kissed her fiercely pinning her against the wall.

 **XXX - Stop reading, the clerk had to go get more Benadryl - XXX**

She didn't even push back, Lucy immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him melt her with his natural warmth.

This was different that the day before; love was present but the gentleness was long gone and for some reason it didn't bother her at all. He didn't wait much, he moved her underwear aside and inserted two fingers at once without warning before pumping them in and out of her.

Lucy closed her eyes and tilted her head back while she moaned his name; he used his weight and strength to pin her before ripping her shirt open making some buttons pop and fall on the ground somewhere; Natsu pulled her bra down and immediately latched to her breast, biting down making her shriek with a mix of pain and pleasure.

He pushed her legs down so she could stand, before carefully removing his scarf and folding in on the table; she saw something feral in his eyes, almost as a predator looking at its pray and she shivered, but not out of fear but excitement.

Natsu returned to his place in front of her and when she tried to put her arms around him he held her wrists and placed them above her head; he held her with one hand and started kissing down her body until he had to release her from his grip; he made it to her hip bone and he bit the skin leaving a mark behind while hooking his fingers to he underwear and pulling it down to her ankles; she tossed it away quickly after.

He bit the inside of her tight lifting her leg to rest on his shoulder, and without warning latched his mouth on the bundle of nerves between her legs causing her to gasp; he licked up and down her folds and back to that spot he knew would take her over the edge where he stopped to suckle greedily before inserting his fingers back inside of her.

Lucy couldn't take it anymore, she felt the pressure in her lower stomach accumulating until she exploded exactly after he bit down. Once she stopped shaking he undid his pants and wrapped her legs around his waist again, this time sliding smoothly into her and pouncing with both strength and speed until she came again sending him over the edge.

 **XXX - Ok here's some more Benadryl, you can go back to reading after this point - XXX**

They both sat on the floor trying to catch their breaths and make sense of the situation.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you… I was scared you would leave if you found out, but it wasn't fair…"

He brushed his fingers on his messy hair and shook his head "I would have… and also would have done the same you did… I'm sorry I was such as ass" She rested her head on his shoulder and nuzzled him "You still mad at me?"

"A little… but how could I stay mad at you… I love you" he cleared his throat and held her hand "So… is that how we are solving our arguments now, because I'm kind of down with it"

She shook her head and kissed his shoulder "You are such an ass" He just laughed and shrugged "Yeah… so what now?"

Lucy's smile warmed his heart and gave him peace he never thought he would find "Now we hope for the best!"

* * *

A dark haired woman was leaning on one of the trees near the lake not far from Natsu's house, she wore a white short kimono loose on the top, allowing her shoulders to show, and black tights and boots; her hair was held in a messy bun with two chopsticks that had a white pearl on the top. Her eyes were almost purple and only framed by black eyeliner, her plump lips colored with a dark wine shade.

She held an orb on her hand and she observed their fierced kisses, the sweat on their skins, she heard their passionate moaning of names and the strokes of their bodies. Such woman did not look happy…

"Soon my king… I shall make your dream come true and bring him home"


	25. Chapter 25

**Not a lot to tell this week, it was a rough one so writing was a much needed therapy, I will not depress you with the details... have a good weekend!**

 **Although there are some names here that are actually words in other languages, so I thought it would be interesting to share**

 **Aporia (Latin): Perplexity, doubt, embarrassment, disorder.**

 **Nihil (Latin): Nothing**

 **Radoub (French): Repair, Refitting**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds."**  
 **― Laurell K. Hamilton, Mistral's Kiss**

* * *

Natsu and Lucy were lost in each other, he kept thinking about her sweet, innocent and oh-so-naive words… wish for the best? could he even allow himself to wish now? He had almost everything he had wished for, but it just couldn't last.

She felt him, so much more than before; their bond grew stronger every day and while the awareness of it gave her the upper hand in keeping him blind about it, it also troubled her deeply "Hey… you look a thousand miles away… talk to me"

Lucy knew him better than what he thought she did, so when he smiled at her with that well prepared, practiced smile that looked like a million bucks, she was sure he was hiding something.

"Nah… I'm right here, enjoying the sight" his eyes roamed her body while he snickered a bit, and for one second she allowed herself to forget he was deviating from his concerns. She understood then… in this matter he would not falter, he had more than a decade of practice; whether it was starting a fight, going on a mission or pretending to be clueless about what people talked about, he always found the right tool to get his way.

"You know that won't work with me anymore" he furrowed his brows and tilted his head in the sweetest most annoying way and her heart clenched "But Luce, what are you talking about?"

"Oh Mavis… I should have seen how manipulative you are years ago! Either stop pulling that crap with me or I'm going home… am I making myself clear?" He flinched a bit and rolled his eyes "Fine, fine… I was just thinking Luce… I know you want me to wish for the best but just in case the worse was to happen…"

"Why do you think that could happen?" He remained quiet for a few seconds and took a deep breath "You said I shouldn't tell you if it involved lying to you. I have my reasons to think shit will hit the fan sooner or later and I can't stop thinking about the fact that because of my… no… OUR recklessness now you are bound suffer"

"It'll be ok… we'll make it ok" she leaned on him and he hugged her tightly against him "Ok Luce…" whether she liked it or not, he was planning on making preparations for her future, he would live even if it involved negotiating his way into a lifelong sentence in jail under constant torture by the council, or becoming an infinite power source like when they were stuck in Edolas… because as long as he lived, she would too and he knew their friends would be there for her.

"I'm going to take a shower, ok? then we can go see Porlyusica" he smiled and nodded "I'm going to take a walk, I'll be back soon"

He left his house and walked towards his favorite place, the small lake not far from his house had always been a place to think, rest, and relax; and right now, he needed all of those and more. As he started getting closer to the location, he felt pressure on his shoulders, an energy he recognized but was not able to pinpoint.

"Who's there?" he saw a shadow coming from behind a tree, almost as if it had materialized from nothing; the pale woman who had been observing from her orb smiled and bowed solemnly "My Lord…blessed the eyes that relish at thy presence"

Natsu had seen her before, but her name escaped his mind "You are part of that crazy ass group…"

She smiled as if a grand price had been given to her "My Lord remembers! Although I would not consider us crazy. I come from Nihil my Lord, my name is Aporia"

"I don't give a fuck what your name is, or where you come from… I thought your friends understood the message during our last encounter"

"Which is why now we decided not to send mere peons to speak to you my Lord… It pains me to see what those unworthy creatures have done to you, this is not what your brother wanted"

He flinched at the mention of Zeref and gave her a stern look "Don't care about what he wanted for me" she lowered her head before taking a few steps forward "I know that you are suffering, I can fix that for you… you can come with me now and all the suffering you've been put through can go away forever… you can have your family back, your real family, all of it"

Natsu heard steps at the distance and Aporia must have heard them too, because a moment later she was next to him whispering "We will give you time to think about it… I'll come back for my answer when the fire of Chrysomallus rises to the stars" he threw his fist at her but was only able to hit air, she had disappeared into nothing.

"Natsu?" he turned around quickly to find Lucy, her hair still dripping wet "Is everything ok?"

"What is wrong with you? You are drenched, and it is fucking cold outside, you are going to get sick!"

"Well you took too long! and I got… worried…" he shook his head and crossed his arms "I told you I would be back soon, it hasn't been that long… come on let's go"

Natsu grabbed her hand and walked her back to his house; he took a towel and sat her between his legs on the couch where he carefully tried to dry her dripping hair. "There! It's not dry yet but at least you ain't dripping!"

Lucy let her back rest on his chest "That actually felt nice… you should do it more often" he pulled her up and nibbled her ear, but she pushed him away quickly "If you keep doing that we are never going to get anywhere!"

He smirked at her playfully "Oh we'll get to uncharted places… that's for sure" she smacked his shoulder and laughed "Shower! now!... consider taking a cold one Mr. Dragneel" he whined a little but eventually made his way from the couch to the bathroom.

Natsu got the water running and removed all his clothes, he noticed the itching on the back of his neck was there again and rubbed the sore skin patch a bit, it was getting extremely irritating. He thought about the mysterious woman who had spoken to him, but decided against talking to Lucy about it, not until he knew more about her and her group.

While he was away training, he had faced the group called Nihil when they approached him first to fight him for daring to use his fists against their Master, and a bit later from a higher-ranking crew to offer him a place among their ranks.

Once they were both ready, they started their way to the old healer's house; although Natsu was happy to have had a full night of sleep the day before, he was not willing to risk his chances. He was quiet still thinking about his earlier encounter with Aporia while Lucy observed him discreetly.

She got the glimpse of an image coming from him, a gorgeous woman with pale skin, her hair up in a messy yet classy bun, her delicate shoulders that were uncovered by her short white kimono… Lucy wanted to ask, she had sensed him angry and confused when she finished showering and rapidly made her way towards him, but when she got there, he was alone. There was no way she could ask about the woman without him asking how she knew; Lucy was frustrated to say the least… as if she didn't have enough to worry about with Merryl still in town, now she had another equally dangerous looking woman to worry about.

They were finally in front of Porlyusica's house, since she was already expecting them, the visit went smoother than usual, at least this time she didn't have her broom with her.

"Ok, so this is it" She pointed at a box on her table "Fifteen vials for fifteen days, I'll have more by the time you run out and I don't want to see either of you here until then"

"Is there something we should worry about?"

"Of course, you should, I already told him and you this is not enough for him to be fine… he will be tired, and sleepy, possibly groggy for long periods of time… I'm almost sure you will be out of commission for the first couple of days"

"W-what do you mean?" Natsu was suddenly less calm than before "There may be some dizziness, and nausea while you get used to it; cutting your ties with dreams also takes its toll…"

Lucy laid her hand on his shoulder and squeezed in a supportive gesture; "Is there anything else we should expect?" Porlyusica looked at him with all seriousness "Listen to me boy, this is not going to be easy… there are too many things you should be expecting and none will be pleasant for you, should you choose not to take this…" Natsu stood up interrupting her, "That is not an option, thanks for all your help… we'll come back in two weeks"

He picked the box from the table and walked outside with Lucy following close behind "Are you sure about this? she said this could be dangerous for you?"

"Yeah, and not doing it will also be dangerous for me, and for everyone else…" she hurried her pace and stood in front of him "Maybe we should look into it more! There needs to be another option" he simply walked around her and kept moving "There's not… if there was, she would know… and Gramps would have said something"

Lucy knew he was right, this is not a risk they would let him take if there was another choice. It wasn't that late, so they decided to stop by the guild to have dinner before going back to Natsu's house.

"Hey Luce… would you mind getting the food this time, I need to talk to Gramps about something" she smiled and pecked his lips "Sure, don't take long ok?" he nodded and walked towards the bar where Makarov was already in the middle of a heated drinking competition with Cana.

"Got a minute?" Makarov laughed and chugged half his mug "You won't defeat me Cana!" Natsu shook his head and got closer "Gramps… hey" Makarov saw the concerned face of his child and got off the bar as if he hadn't been drinking for the last few hours; it was impressive how he could sober up as quickly when he sensed his children needed him.

They got into his office and he closed the door behind them before taking a seat on his desk waiting for Natsu so speak his mind; "I need to make arrangements" Makarov gave him a confused look and so he decided to elaborate "You know… about what I want to happen to my stuff when…"

"If… you meant if… right?" Natsu gave him a half smile "Of course… so if things don't work out, I'd like to make arrangements for my stuff, and I mean all my stuff gramps, including the stuff you keep for me"

"Make a list brat, I'll take care of the rest"

Natsu left the office and walked towards his usual table, Lucy was already waiting for him with enough food to feed a small battalion. After they finished eating, they continued talking for a bit, she laughed and brushed his arm in any opportunity, so, at some point he shifted and sat her between his legs before wrapping his arms on her waist and resting his chin on the crook of her neck.

"You smell so good dammit" she turned to bite his jaw before giggling, and he immediately tighten his arms around her waist "Careful Luce…" she disregarded the comment and bit again, this time pulling a bit.

He smiled and moved his hand inside her tight brushing his fingers on the soft skin; she started blushing "S-stop that… this is not the place!" he simply smirked "Well I guess you should have thought about that before, don't ya think?"

The interaction was interrupted when Levy dropped a pile of books on the table "Lu! I got some new books today!"

Lucy pulled her blushed self up and smiled "O-oh that sounds wonderful, what did you get?" Natsu pouted and pulled Lucy back to him "Uhm… guys am I interrupting something here?"

"N-no of course not!" she pinched Natsu under the table causing him to wince "Nah Levy of course not… why don't you girls catch up…" He kissed Lucy one more time before getting up to get a drink from the bar.

"Mira can I get a whiskey… let's make it a double" She gave him a sweet smile before pouring the tall glass "You guys are so cute! I always knew you were going to end up together!"

"Mhm… you called it… although it seems I also have a bet to collect from Cana's board" he gave her a wide grin and watched her stutter "W-what are you talking about?"

"I smell... "he took a whiff "expensive cigars, whiskey and a hint of a familiar static… I should probably tell gramps he didn't quit smoking after all" Mira got four shades redder than Erza's hair before Natsu felt something small hitting his head "OI!" a small ice cube had been thrown from the second floor and when he looked up, he saw Laxus and Gajeel staring back at him.

"Geez… I was joking for Mavis sake…" He took his drink and started walking up the stairs talking apparently to himself, however he knew the two slayers were completely able to hear him "Like I would risk getting Mira pissed off at me...come on"

"Well you have been pulling some stupid crap lately, so who knows…"

The three of them sat down on one of the tables where there was an already open bottle "So… you and Mira uhm? how is that going?"

"Probably about the same that you and blondie… but at least I am not groping her in the middle of the guild"

"You fucking knew we could hear you, runt; think about Wendy" Natsu laughed "And mother Gajeel makes a second appearance! I certainly didn't think that would happen twice in my life!"

"I'm going to fucking beat you to a pulp Fire-breath!"

"Bring it on Metal brain!"

Laxus rolled his eyes before punching both on the head "Cut it out you too! You fucking know all fighting between you two is restricted for the next six months"

Natsu was upset about the comment but couldn't deny Laxus was right, however what annoyed him the most was Gajeel showing the slightest hint of guilt and pity towards his situation "Wipe that expression of your face if you don't want me to remove it for you, asshole… I bet I can still beat your ass even without using magic…"

"Tsk… you wish you could…" They went on with their usual bantering for the next twenty minutes before Lucy signaled him letting him know it was time to go home. They walked calmly through the streets of Magnolia, only stopping once in Lucy's apartment to get a few things for her; Lucy got some writing utensils, clothes, and some of her shower essentials and moisturizer.

It didn't take long before they made it back home, it was funny for Lucy how the once messy barely standing building had become an actual safe space for her, of course it was in much better condition than the first time she was there. Once inside she made some tea for both and they sat down on the living room.

"Hey Natsu, I know you rebuilt the house not too long ago, but where did you ever get the money to do that? You are always paying for the stuff you burn down"

"Pff… I've got money weirdo…"

"If you have money why were you two always at my house?!" he grabbed his chin to consider the answer for a few seconds "Well, because you were there of course"

"Well that's sweet… but I've spent money on food for the tree of us more times than I can count!" he laughed loudly "AND I've helped paid your rent for years now! Can we just call it even?"

She shook her head "Wow… so you realize that we have been sharing expenses for years… and you sneaked into my house almost every night, we were practically living together!" she grabbed her stomach and laughed, but after a few seconds she noticed she was the only one laughing "D-did I say something wrong?"

"Nah… but then why don't we? I mean… I own this house and a part of the land anyways, you wouldn't have to pay rent, and whatever adjustments to the house you want to make I'll be ok with it" she choked on her tea a bit and coughed "Y-you mean you really want us to live together?"

His smile was as big as the first time he smiled at her "Of course I do weirdo… I love you; I don't know if we'll have a lot of time… or just a little… but I don't want to be apart from you"

"Have I told you that you are the sweetest most awesome goofball that has ever existed?"

He pretended to consider it "Hmm, nope, not today! anyways is that a yes?" She nodded excitedly, and he hugged her while he laid kisses all over her face; he was determined to make the best out of the time he had left, no matter what. "Hey Natsu, how much land do you actually own?"

He bit the inside of his cheek and tilted his head "Hmm… probably from the beginning of the steep road, and I'm pretty sure Happy and I bought the last of the lake land the year before last"

"Oh ok...WAIT WHAT? That's… more than half an acre"

"Oh yeah, at least until you get to the lake definitely half an acre… I'm not sure, I would have to ask gramps for the map"

"How the hell does no one know about it?" he shrugged "Not really that important, when I was little and I was asked to live over here, they told me I could build my house and then make payments on the land because they knew I was just about to start taking missions and didn't have the money for it… I told gramps that I wanted to have a big land because one day I was going to find Igneel and he was fucking huge!"

She saw sadness in his eyes and grabbed his hand immediately rubbing circles with her thumb "So, I told him that whenever I could I would give him money and asked him to take care of the purchase and papers since I'm no good for that, and so, I kept giving him a cut every time I could, some for land, some for safekeeping, some for damage payment… and I stopped right after Igneel died"

"Why didn't I know this?" she felt bad about this, it was not that long ago she had started to realize that he was not as dense as everyone thought, but the fact was everyone assumed he was fine and didn't stop to ask much about it.

"I guess I'm not used to talk about my stuff… everyone else has lots of stuff on their plate as it is" she grabbed his head and pulled him to rest on her chest while her fingers brushed his pink hair "Silly dragon… I don't think you even realize how much you have on your plate all the time… I'm sorry we always depend on you"

He looked up and brushed her cheek "Don't be… I rather enjoy it" they stared at each other for a few minutes before Natsu felt the conversation was getting a bit too deep for him at this point, so he planted his face on her breasts and snuggled "Man you are better than my pillow…"

"You are insufferable!" they both laughed while she brushed the hair off his face "Why don't we move all my stuff as soon as you feel better? Remember Porlyusica said you would be out for a couple of days"

"Tsk… she is exaggerating… that stuff is not going to take my down! I am the son of the Fire Dragon King!"

He walked to the table and took one of the vials, it had a slimy purple liquid inside that looked positively poisonous; he gulped and popped the cork and as soon as he got it close to his face he winced "OH BY MAVIS! THIS SMELLS LIKE SHIT!"

"Natsu! You need to drink it!" he shook his head vigorously "Nuh uh! That crazy ass old woman wants to kill me for sure!"

"Ok… I thought nothing could take down the son of the powerful fire dragon king…" he flinched at her comment, took a deep breath and drank the whole thing in one gulp. He went different shades of green and covered his mouth to avoid throwing up due to the taste of it.

He had soon regretted his words, he was sure the slimy liquid would be his doom. No amount of trains, magic cars or any other transportation could ever be compared to the potent stinky slime that he was sure was disintegrating his stomach.

He had been bed bound for two full days, in between dizziness, cold sweat, unintelligent mumbling, numbness and more; Lucy stood by his side all the time and tried to sooth him as much as possible.

"Lucy, is Natsu going to be ok?"

"I'm sure he will Happy… he just needs to hang on for a little more"

"Well at least he hasn't set anything on fire"

"That's right bud! I just feel bad for him, I have had to keep giving him that horrible stuff whether he wants to drink it or not"

The exceed shrugged "Well he needs to act like a big boy and take his medicine; I remember the time he forced cough syrup down my throat, so don't feel so bad about it"

Another day went by, Lucy noticed he wasn't grabbing his stomach threatening to hurl over the bed; however, she also noticed his eyes weren't moving as they would when someone slept, nor was he switching positions every certain time, he was just there, unmoving.

He finally woke up, his head spinning and in pain, his body felt heavy _-Well fuck it… I'm alive…"_ he stood up from bed and walked to the living room where he heard voices.

"Aw Natsu you are finally up!" he covered his ears "Bud… not so loud please… this is worse than the day after Cana's drinking challenge"

Gray, who was sitting in the living room with Lucy and Juvia laughed remembering that moment "Wait… which one?" Natsu rubbed his temples and shook his head "I want to say the first one ever… but honestly this may be more like combining a couple of them"

"Well that sucks…" Natsu walked to the kitchen, got a glass and took a whiskey bottle out of one of the cabinets; when he looked up, they were all looking at him "What? If this is anything like that time with Cana, this should help!... No judging unless you feel like you've been hit by a train"

They decided to let him be, he sat next to Lucy and wrapped his arm around her while they continued with their conversation. At some point, Natsu's stomach growled loudly making Lucy laugh.

"I'm guessing you are hungry?"

"I'm fucking starving...for how long was I out?"

Gray smirked at him and looked up at the ceiling "Well you are always starving flame for brains, so it doesn't make a difference"

"Well at least I don't have to worry about what I eat! You are getting soft around the edges ice princess!"

Both Lucy and Juvia smacked the back of their heads causing them to flinch. "I have to go make some lunch… and Juvia is going to help me. Can you guys keep the house in one piece?"

"Yes ma'am!" Lucy shook her head smiling and leaned to kiss Natsu on the lips, he took advantage of the moment and pulled her to sit on his lap before deepening it; after a few seconds, Lucy pushed him away and blushed before leaving for the kitchen followed by Juvia.

Gray just stared at him for a couple of seconds, he crossed his arms above his now naked chest "Wow… you need a moment alone man?"

"Well if we consider you are the one that's almost naked, I could ask the same thing"

"Dammit!" Gray stood up and started searching for his clothes "Anyways, how are things between you too? It seems neither is angry anymore"

"Nah… I mean I guess we still have lots of stuff to figure out you know? but I ain't about to waste my time" The itching on the back of his neck got stronger and he started scratching around the collar.

It didn't take long for the girls to come out of the kitchen holding different platters and they all sat down to eat some lunch, Gray and Natsu with their usual banter which was extremely normal, while Juvia and Lucy giggled at their childish behavior.

Despite of being hungry, Natsu pushed the food on his plate several times before taking a few bites and putting the plate aside.

"I thought you were starving" Lucy looked at him with concern and laid her hand on top of his, "I was… I'm just not that hungry anymore"

Gray almost dropped his fork on the table "Should we call Wendy? That ain't normal"

"Don't exaggerate princess, I'm fine"

Lucy nodded "It's probably your body still adjusting to that awful purple goo"

"Well if you are not eating anymore, maybe we could do something else for fun… you need to get out of the house a little bit; why don't we go to the lake?"

Gray and Juvia nodded in agreement, they both thought it was a great idea, which lasted for about two seconds "No" they all turned to look at Natsu with his arms crossed above his chest and a stern look.

"But you love going to the lake… we could take Happy fishing, and we could swim a bit!"

"I said no… "He shook his head and rubbed his hands on his face "I'm sorry… can we just take a raincheck on that? how about we go to the guild to see what everyone's up to?"

"Sure Natsu…" the three mages looked rather confused about his behavior but decided to give him some time, no one was expecting him to be completely back.

* * *

*AN: The book in this part refers to a change made while rewriting CH6*

"Didn't take you for the reading type Gajeel…"

"Shut up cat… I'm trying to concentrate here…" Lily flew closer to Gajeel and landed on his shoulder "You are going to need Levy for that…"

"Thank you, genius! I'm glad I asked you...tsk…" The black exceed rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen to make some tea "Are you going to tell me what that is?"

"I'm not even sure… it's about dragons, Bunny girl found it in the creeper's place… I'm not sure… but I think I understand some stuff"

"Are the pretty pictures very descriptive?"

"OI! I CAN READ JUST FINE STUPID CAT!" he growled in anger and made the walls from his house tremble a bit "Why are you reading it by yourself? This is Levy's specialty after all"

"Because there may be stuff here that I don't want her to know just yet… and I wanted to make sure before I asked for her help"

"Like the fact that you are pretty much bonded, and you lied to her about that?" Gajeel's face went pale "W-what?!"

"Oh, come on… don't play dumb, you know I'm right. There's no way that you guys are not bonded already"

Gajeel turned around to keep reading the book, he reached out to get a piece of scrap metal and took a bite before dropping the book again "If I tell her she'll get all worried! just like Salamander's girl did!"

"Sure… lying is so much better…" The dragon slayer rubbed his face with both hands "It's not, I just don't know how to have that conversation with her! We are usually in the middle of so much trouble… she is going to freak out"

Like if being summoned the door opened startling them both "I'm home!" Gajeel looked at Lily and took a deep breath "Would you mind?"

The exceed smiled at him and left without asking any questions, leaving Gajeel and Levy by themselves. "Hey Shrimp" she ran and practically jumped to his lap before placing a sweet kiss on his lips; she moved forward and started planting open mouthed kisses on his jaw, she grabbed his dark hair and moved to kiss his neck giving small bites here and there. He rubbed her back and lowered his hands until he was cupping her ass.

"Shrimp…" she merely hummed in response "Mhm?" he growled a bit at the sensation of her hot tongue running circles on his skin "I… we…" she bit down on his neck causing him to squeeze her ass. She lowered her hands and got ahold of his belt before he pushed her away and sat her down.

"Stop! I'm trying to talk to you dammit!"

"Geez!... What?" She pouted but immediately noticed his serious face "Ok, I'm sorry… what's going on?"

"I… ahem... "He didn't even know how to begin, but knew his shrimp was smart enough to connect the dots if he made a mistake "I may have lied to you… a little"

"Elaborate…" she crossed her arms above her chest and frowned.

"Ok...I told you about the bonds when we talked about Salamander and Bunny girl, and I said that she could be in danger if something happened to him" Levy nodded and got closer expecting for him to continue "I may… have… downplayed it a little…"

She blinked a couple of times "How much is a little?" he took a deep breath and closed his eyes "Dragons mate for life shrimp… if something happens to her, he will go mad with pain and eventually death will claim him… same goes for her"

Levy didn't look so surprised and it seemed Gajeel was now the confused one "Why are you not panicking?" she shrugged and crooked her mouth a little "Well… sure it makes sense… some humans lose their will to live when they lose the love of their life Gajeel… the only difference is dragons don't have a choice, but it's not uncommon for people to give up…"

"That's not the only thing…" he could hear his heart pulsing on his ears, he balled his hands and spoke before he lost the courage "I told you I wouldn't let that happen without you knowing… I told you I would let you make your choice whether it was to be with me forever or not… even by that time it was already too late… I just panicked… a little"

He closed his eyes and braced himself for the punching and yelling, but it never came; she pinched both his cheeks and pulled to the sides forcing a funny face on him "Stupid Gajeel… just so you know I wouldn't have let you leave even if you wanted… you are stuck with me. Even if you weren't a dragon slayer, I would probably lose my will if you…" she didn't finish, in a split second his lips were on hers and his hands were removing the tears that were already falling from her cheeks.

They separated for a second and he rested his forehead on hers "You are something else shrimp…" she closed her eyes and sighted "I love you Gajeel".

"Hey Shrimp…" she opened her eyes and discovered he still had his eyes closed and was biting the inside of his cheek "Yeah?" he took a deep breath, and licked his dry lips before continuing "Marry me?"

* * *

The days went by quickly after that, they gave the big announcement back in the guild and their friends couldn't be happier; this was just what they needed to mark the beginning of a better cycle.

Mira had been planning everyone's wedding for years, and despite fainting as soon as she heard the news, she quickly recovered herself and went to get her wedding scrapbook (one of them)

Everyone was so excited that the sound of the doors opening went unnoticed, however once the magic energy was felt, the guild went quiet and turned to observe the clean looking man standing inside their home.

He wore a white knee length jacket, black trousers with long black boots; there was a symbol on his jacket above where his heart was… the same one Natsu had carved on his side during his unpleasant stay at the council.

"Greetings Fairy Tail" the man was formal, he had brown short hair and small black eyes, covered by thick framed glasses that he pushed back in place with his index finger "I'm looking for Master Makarov Dreyar and Natsu Dragneel"

The guild tensed at his words, and it was so quiet that a needle falling to the ground would have sounded like a gun going off. Natsu pursed his lips and removed Lucy hand from his arm; he stood up and used his best cocky grin "YO! took you guys long enough; I thought you'd forgotten about me!"

"Mr. Dragneel! how could we forget of such… peculiar individual" Makarov cleared his throat "Your business here?" the council's envoy pretended to look shocked "Well sir of course this is a follow up visit on Mr. Dragneel… you were informed of such visits were you not?"

Makarov gritted his teeth, apparently the council had a flare for drama "I was, but I thought the council would at least have the decency to let us know when such visits would take place"

"Master do not confuse our politeness with foolishness… it will always be best to catch people off guard if we want to obtain answers. Please allow me to introduce myself… I'm Remy, Remy Radoub… I'm the council's information specialist"

Natsu knew what he was, another interrogator. The mere thought sent shivers down his spine and made him dizzy, he had been back home for about a week and have never felt as weak as he was now and just the idea of going into a room with the man in front of him caused his heart to race.

This went unnoticed to everyone except for the other Dragon Slayers in the room; if you looked at Natsu, he seemed calm, even smug, unmoved and strong as usual… but once you heard his heart racing, him discreetly gulping, the fact that he put his hands inside his pockets to avoid people noticing him shake… those were all things that could go unnoticed for everyone but them.

"So! Are we doing this or are we going to keep wasting everyone's time Ramon?"

"It's Remy… we'll need to go somewhere quiet… perhaps your home Mr. Dragneel… I heat it's outside of town"

"You will stay here and use the basement Mr. Radoub, if you think for a second you are taking my child away… you are very wrong, you will proceed as agreed in my house!"

"Fine… lead the way" Natsu gave Lucy a small smile and placed a kiss on her forehead, when he was walking he noticed some stares, mostly from Gajeel, Laxus and Wendy; he hated those pity looks, the ones who silently tried to tell him everything would be ok and that they knew what was happening… they didn't know, how could they?

Lucy almost went into a full panic attack, her chest was in pain, she couldn't breathe, she started sweating and shaking uncontrollably, she felt tears on her face and held her knees before feeling Levy's hand on her shoulder; she immediately pushed it away for no reason "D-don't, p-please"

"Lu! What's happening, are you ok?"

"I…" she couldn't even talk, she didn't know what was happening; she pulled her shirt away from her neck in an attempt to calm down, but it still felt as if she was inside a small fish tank filling with water "W-what's… happening"

Gajeel stood behind Levy watching Lucy shake before holding Levy's shoulders and speaking to both of them "I… don't think this is coming from you…" she looked at him in shock "But he was here! he wasn't in pain, he was ok!"

He stared at her knowing the answer but said nothing, Lucy kept staring at him until a sweet voice broke the awkward moment "Was he?..."

"Wendy?..." She avoided their eyes and sat across from Lucy "Do we really know he is ok? just when the council guy started talking, I heard his heart… his breathing… he was more than scared I know he was"

They stayed in silence for a while; Natsu had always been fearless, strong and the undying soul of Fairy tail; realizing he could feel that type of fear for a simple man that any other day he could have defeated with one finger was something no one was ready to do.

The guild hall was quiet for the next hour and a half, everyone was waiting for the agony of waiting to finish; they heard smalls steps coming up the stairs and waited to see both Natsu and Remy emerging, but to their surprise only the last came out.

He was putting his gloves back on and he calmly smiled at them "I would give him a few minutes… then he may need some assistance to come back up. I'll send you my full report tomorrow Master Makarov… and I'll be back… soon"

As soon as he left Lucy started running towards the stairs but was stopped by Laxus "Get out of my way!" he shook his head "I'll take care of him Blondie… go sit down"

She was about to refuse and fight her way downstairs when Makarov intervened "I think that is the best… Lucy dear please go take a sit"

Laxus slowly made his way downstairs and as he moved forward, he started to hear different noises, small whines, heavy breathing; he was worried, for him Natsu was the most annoying individual alive, just like an annoying small brother although he would never admit to it.

He took the finals steps inside the basement and that's when he saw him. The man who had defeated him when he tried to bring the guild down with the thunder palace, the one who had won the war for them at a great personal cost, the man that no matter the pain and blood loss would always stand up and fight until he came out victorious… laying on the floor with his face on the ground, hugging his stomach and leaning back and forward barely able to breath.

Laxus got closer to him and noticed there were deep scratches on the back of his neck and his shoulders, the angle could only mean they were self-inflicted and for one second, he thought about asking what had happened to him, but instead he sat on the floor next to waited out.

More than half an hour passed before Natsu could straighten himself out and grab his shirt from the chair.

"You need to let Wendy take a look at that you know?" Laxus was starting to hate quiet Natsu, it seemed unnatural for him. They walked up the stairs and as soon as they came out people moved immediately towards them to ask the thousand questions going through their minds, but it was almost as if Natsu couldn't hear them.

He walked passed them and stopped at the door without looking back "I need a minute" that's all he said before leaving the guild behind. Lucy was struggling in between following him and letting him cool off but ultimately decided to allow him some space.

Natsu was dragging his feet for some time until he felt his stomach was going to leave his body, he entered an alley and rested on the wall before throwing up.

Visions were making his way to the surface, things he didn't remember, things he couldn't tell if were real or not… he had heard before from Zeref's lips that he had a life before the one he remembered, he had even seen the flashbacks of his mother and father before, despite not really remembering them.

Now that a stranger had done something which according to his later words felt as "A hot iron stick put through your nose, twirled inside your head and pulled to remove your brain in one move" the images of a young version of himself holding hands with a smiley black-haired boy kept popping up.

Surely what he saw had been planted by the council, of course they were trying to drive him crazy to take him away! What better way to make him go mad than showing him fake memories of his family; however, the memories that shook him the most were the ones of his dead, and his revival.

For a second, he thought of Aporia, the promise she made of making the pain go away sounded good at that point, but he knew better than to trust a person who had drifted into darkness.

"I can't…" He closed his eyes and tried to steady himself; every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same.

 _A hill covered by green grass and big trees, a woman with long dark hair waving from a small house, he was running to get to her and he wasn't alone… he turned to the side to find his older brother, he had the biggest smile Natsu had ever seen on someone._

 _It all went dark in a second, he blinked a couple of times and noticed the fire, the roof of his house was burning. His mother laid above him holding him tightly, she was crying and kept whispering "You are ok baby, I've got you…"_

 _He tried to reach out to touch her face; he was a couple of inches away when he felt her stiffen and gasp; he felt his clothes and face all wet and looked down but the only thing he saw was the color red. His mother's eyes were wide open, blood trickling down her mouth and something sharp was going through her chest and stomach._

 _Natsu heard screaming and he turned to see his father holding his brother, he had a bit cut on his head and was laying on the ground. The bulky pink haired man laid his son underneath the table and ran towards Natsu; suddenly his mother's body was pulled away and he saw it, a big dragon flying above his house, his sharp black claws dripping in blood from where his mother's body was still hanging._

 _The Dragon circled back and with a swift move he threw his mother's body to the ground; it bounced a couple of times causing some of her bones to crack, and more blood to spatter on the floor; the sound echoed through his head over and over. He was sitting on the floor covering his ears trying to make the sound go away, he didn't hear his father screaming for him to run._

 _When Natsu finally looked up and tried to reach his father's hand, the dragon swept the man of the ground and held him by one of his ankles. He barely had time to scream before the dragon grabbed his torso with a second claw and pulled, separating his body in half and letting him fall on a pool of blood on the ground._

 _He couldn't cry, the shock was too much; his brother was still on the ground, and it seemed the dragon hadn't noticed him. If we could just distract him long enough his big brother would be ok._

 _The four-year-old boy took the decision that would cost his life in a matter of seconds, little did he know his brother although still unable to move was already awake. Natsu stood tall with his small hands fisted on his sides._

 _"GO AWAY!" he wanted to be brave, he wanted to keep his face up and look at the dragon who had taken almost everything from him, everything except his big brother "I SAID GO AWAY!" With a quick move, the dragon slammed his tail against the already weak construction causing everything to collapse above them._

 _Last thing he remembered was his body in pain, unable to move, tears on his face, he couldn't talk but he heard someone calling his name "Natsu! Natsu!" his brother was staring at him covered in blood, tears staining his face._

 _He was so worried that his big brother was injured, there was so much blood. He felt like he couldn't breath and grabbed his brother's shirt while he tried to gasp, Natsu coughed and felt a warm liquid on his mouth and when he wiped it from his face, he saw red. He didn't understand what was happening, but he felt cold and dizzy, like if everything got darker little by little, all the sounds were getting muffled and the pain was less noticeable every passing second._

 _The pain he felt the next time he opened his eyes was very similar to what he felt the last time he had closed them; he couldn't breathe well until all the green gooey liquid left his mouth; his body felt stiff and suddenly he felt a pair of arms wrap around him "You are ok little brother, I've got you"_

He shook his head and realized he was still sitting on the alley, he didn't know how long it had been but it was starting to get darker so he decided to go back to the guild; he felt as if he was being observed all the way back, he turned to look everywhere and tried to use his heighten senses but there was nothing there.

The words kept echoing in his head _"You are ok, I've got you"_ those words were not to be trusted; if the images in his head were true then he had heard those words before catastrophe stroke, before he was drenched by his mother's blood, before his brother turned him into a demon that could endanger everything he loved.

He opened the doors of the guild and walked directly to the bar, he knew his friends would be observing and decided to avoid their eyes.

"Mira, can I get a double?" she looked at him and bit the inside of her cheek "Maybe it's not such a good idea, don't you think?"

He gave her a half smile and tilted his head "Well I ain't here because of all my great ideas Mira… how about that drink?" she nodded and got a glass for him before going to the other end of the bar. Natsu felt arms wrap around his torso and he flinched a bit, but he knew it was Lucy so eventually he relaxed and grabbed her hands.

This didn't go unnoticed for her "Are you ok?" she expected him to lie, to do as he usually did and carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, to give a fake smile and pretend nothing happened, but instead he just squeezed her hand and stayed quiet for a little.

"No… I don't think I am" she was more than a bit surprised; she pulled her arms and urged him to turn to face her, before bringing him to rest his forehead on her shoulder and hugging him tightly. She ran her fingers through his hair and notice his breathing, he was definitely trying to hold back his sobbing in front of everyone.

Natsu hugged her back and remained hidden by the warmth of her arms, her scent helped him relax a bit and he got lost on her once more until he heard the words that would make him shiver for years to come "You're ok… I've got you"


	26. Chapter 26

**HEY! Sorry for the delay, I had some plans for a long holiday weekend for "Semana Santa" In Mexico involving lots of sun, a swimming pool** **, lots of tequila and 0 responsibilities and this got a bit delayed *Offers self as tribute to erase mistake***

 **Additional notes: Adding more characters, these are all names of mythology btw, they have actual backstories that I used for this story, I have a few other surprises planned but probably for the next chapter or two, the story is developing a bit along with the characters, hopefully you'll enjoy it, thanks for the PM's! Please R &R.**

 **Aporia (OC- name origin: Latin): Perplexity, doubt, embarrassment, disorder.**

 **Nephele: (Greek Mythology) the cloud whom Zeus created in the image of Hera to trick Ixion. She was a cloud nymph.**

 **Helle: (Greek Mythology) goddess of the Hellespont, a body of water bridging the Aegean and the Black Seas. It is said that when she fell to the ocean while escaping with her brother, Poseidon transformed her into a sea-goddess.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there."**

 **― Pascal Mercier,Night train to Lisbon**

* * *

"Mira, can I get a double?" she looked at him and bit the inside of her cheek "Maybe it's not such a good idea, don't you think?"

He gave her a half smile and tilted his head "Well I ain't here because of all my great ideas… how about that drink?" she nodded and got a glass for him before going to the other end of the bar. Natsu felt arms wrap around his torso and he flinched a bit, but he knew it was Lucy so eventually he relaxed and grabbed her hands.

This didn't go unnoticed for her "Are you ok?" she expected him to lie, to do as he usually did and carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, to give a fake smile and pretend nothing happened, but instead he just squeezed her hand and stayed quiet for a little.

"No… I don't think I am" she was more than a bit surprised; she pulled her arms and urged him to turn to face her, before bringing him to rest his forehead on her shoulder and hugging him tightly. She ran her fingers through his hair and notice his breathing, he was definitely trying to hold back his sobbing in front of everyone.

Natsu hugged her back and remained hidden by the warmth of her arms, her scent helped him relax a bit and he got lost on her once more until he heard the words that would make him shiver for years to come "You're ok… I've got you"

Those damned words were hunting him everywhere, it was almost as if people would jinx their fates by pronouncing that single dreaded sentence; he tightened his hold on Lucy, his fists held to the back of her shirt _-Don't say that… don't…-_ Lucy bit her lip as soon as she heard his voice in her head, she could feel his suffering and remembered the panic she had felt not long ago.

She brushed his hair with her fingernails and whispered on his ear "Why don't we go home?" he nodded on her shoulder and took a few deep breaths before standing up, his eyes looking at the floor while his hair covered his eyes to avoid the stares of his friends.

"Wait for me outside ok? I'll be right there" he didn't respond, he nodded again and kept walking towards the doors, just as he was told to.

As soon as he crossed the door, Lucy had a couple of mages and a worried blue cat next to her "Lucy, what's wrong with Natsu?" she shook her head "I don't know Happy, but could you stay with Carla and Wendy tonight? I'm sorry to ask"

"Aye, don't worry… just… make him better Lucy" she patted his head and smiled trying to show confidence where there was none "I'll do my best"

Erza and Gray gave her a look, something was bothering them and she knew it, but for some reason they remained quiet staring between her and anything else, as if trying to figure out the correct words "Ok you are both making me dizzy… what's happening?"

The magnificent Titania, the Fairy queen, holder of incredible power and destroyer or great armies seemed to have left her confidence with a different outfit when she tried to vocalize her question "I… he seems so…" she stared at the floor and felt Gray's hand on her shoulder "Has he said something to you? About… anything…"

Gray shook his head "This is so unlike him… I don't think I've ever seen him break down… not like this"

Her throat got constricted and it took all of her strength to respond without raising or breaking her voice "That doesn't mean he never has… did you ever consider that?" both of them stared at her with a mix of emotions, sure, it was illogical for someone to be happy all the time, or to overcome things as quickly as he did, they knew it… so why had they never considered that also applied to their friend?

Erza shook her head "I guess we didn't…" Lucy took a deep breath and held her hand "I'm sorry, that was unfair… I didn't either; I guess it was easier to think he never got tired of carrying the extra weight you know?" the three of them shared a quiet minute before Lucy excused herself to catch up with Natsu.

She walked towards the doors and once she got close enough she noticed he was whispering, it almost sounded like he was having an argument but once she was outside he was standing there acting as if nothing had happened; she could see beyond his tricks now, it almost seemed as if he was trying too hard and the thought of him always trying as hard as now made her incredibly sad.

"Shall we go?" He half smiled and nodded, she knew it was a forced smile but took it anyways before grabbing him by the waist and letting him rest his arm on her shoulders. They walked in silence for a while before curiosity got the best of her "Why did you walk away?"

Lucy felt him stiffen and waited patiently for him to elaborate "I just had to, it was a bit… over…whelming?" she nodded and rested her head on his shoulders "Sometimes things can become overwhelming… but you need to trust us"

"It's not that I don't trust you Luce… come on, you know it's not like that"

"Ok, so… tell me what it is then"

"I can't talk about what I don't know Luce" He shook his head and brushed his hair with his free hand "I saw something I had no memory of… and I don't know… I can't… can we just not get into it now?"

"Ok, can I at least ask what it was about?" He took a deep breath "My brother… my parents too" and there it was, Lucy's brain scanned all memories to try to find one occasion in which Natsu had referred to Zeref as his brother; no, never had he used the endearing term to speak about the man who had stolen more lives than they could count, never had he looked so broken by the term one would usually hold deeply at heart.

They finally got home but by that moment the elephant in the room was occupying most of the space between them. He preferred that awkward silence than responding to more of her questions and that made him angry at himself; at that moment he didn't have words to explain.

He trusted his friends with his life, he understood emotions based on situations… he knew he was sad when Lisanna died, angry when Gray tried to sacrifice himself to finish Deliora, he knew that when thinking Lucy had died, the mix of anger, sadness and devastation had taken him somewhere so deep within, that scared him… but then again he had reacted to that; he had cried for Lisanna, yelled at Gray, and… ok he wasn't really all there when he thought Lucy died but he had heard the others speak, and he knew it hadn't been pretty.

He couldn't explain why he had always felt the need to prove himself stronger, to defend the people important to him, to carry their burdens even if it meant risking his life; he couldn't explain how he had always forced himself to remain happy despite felling sadness, but the idea of not knowing why he was sad sounded ridiculous. So yes, he gained peace from the awkward silence between him and the woman he loved, and yes, he hated himself for it.

Natsu walked inside the house and heard the door close but didn't hear footsteps behind him and when he turned around he saw Lucy resting her forehead on the door; he could have sworn he heard her inside his head saying "How do I fix him?" of course he shook his head and disregarded that idea; for him it made more sense to think he was finally going crazy.

He was angry; he hated himself for bringing her into this mess, for asking her to move in, for being so selfish; he was angry at her too, she should have let him die along with his brother, but no… she was determined to keep him earthbound next to her, both of them were selfish, how could they not be? There was one more thing and he wasn't sure what the feeling was, but he felt it when she flinched at the sound of him saying the word "brother", as if it meant a sin, as if the word reflected the most grotesque creature before her… but could he blame her? His brother was after all the Spriggan King.

It took him only a few long steps to reach her, Lucy noticed right away but when she was about to turn around, he placed both hands on the door, one on each side of her head; she could feel his breathing on her nape and that caused her to shiver.

"There's no fixing me Luce… the sooner you understand that the better"

She cursed herself for slipping, of course he had heard her "I can't believe that" he chuckled a bit, but not out of happiness; the sound carried a sense of pain and sorrow that invaded Lucy's heart immediately "If I believed there was no saving you… we would have parted ways long ago Natsu"

He knew she was right, if she had given up on him then this would have never happened, and she would be safe from all the pain he had brought on her during the last few months "Have you ever considered that maybe we should have?" her breath hitched; the implications of what he was saying were too big for her to consider.

Natsu's mouth and body were basically running on their own, and he could only observe as if he was an innocent bystander. His hand moved on its own and slid slowly from the door landing on her waist; that simple touch made her feel warm, but the emotions going through her heart were still too confusing.

He moved his hand to the soft skin of her stomach and his fingers traced circles around her navel "You never ask Luce… ask…"

Lucy gulped loudly, her breath got caught in her throat "What?" he got closer to her, and as he spoke she felt his warm breath on her ear; there was a tingling sensation that went all the way from that spot and ended between her legs, and she cursed herself for not being able to hide her love and desire for him.

"Ask me what I want…" he thought her speeding heartbeat was the most beautiful sound he could ever hear; she tried to steady her breathing, but it was almost impossible, and after a minute, her silence was enough of an answer for him.

He knew she couldn't understand what was happening, or what would happen eventually. _-Why did I let it get this far?..._

Natsu took a deep breath to take as much of her scent as he could before he moved away from the door and walked to the kitchen, he got a glass and retrieved the open whiskey bottle from the top cabinet, he poured himself a drink and took a sip; at that point Lucy had snapped out of the trance and had followed him to the kitchen. She was blushing all the way from her face to her chest "What are you doing?"

"I am obviously getting a drink Luce"

"And you though now was the best time to do that? What the hell was that?"

"As good as any other" he took a sip from his glass and avoided her eyes "And that… " he looked at his glass and traced his finger on its rim "You demanded I be honest, and told me if I couldn't tell you then I should say so… but when given the opportunity to ask you may not want to know the answer"

"Are you fucking kidding me Natsu? Why would you think that I don't want to?" he didn't respond and took another sip of his whiskey. Lucy moved her hands to her hips and narrowed her eyes "Are you even listening to me?" his silence hurt her more than she expected and being as short tempered as she was didn't help "Well is not like you ever do anyways"

"I'm always listening Luce, you are the one who never does" she was angry, angrier than she had been in a long time "I've been trying to! But you refuse to talk…"

He slammed the glass on the table and turned "I wish I could stop… " She was surprised and confused by his reaction but didn't have time to respond "You really want to know that I could feel your anger when I called him brother? That it made me angry at you because even if it's a little bit… I remembered how he was before? How I was before? The pain he went through when I was gone and how it was because of me that he got so fucked up?"

She opened and closed her mouth several times in search for a response but found herself speechless "Or maybe you would rather ask me if I really wanted you to rewrite the damn book! Come on Luce… ask" She understood now what he meant; she wanted to know but was also incredibly scared of what she would find out, and he knew that.

"Natsu… stop" he scrunched his nose and stared at her "My Mother, my father, my brother, Igneel… they all ruined themselves saving me, you almost did the same… do you want to ask about that?"

Lucy was rubbing her temples and failing to hold her tears "Stop…"

"Maybe you should ask how good it felt to let the demon take over" her eyes met his and she knew he was deadly serious; Lucy felt incredibly stupid, she knew him the best and yet she knew nothing at all, there were too many things she wasn't ready to know and there she was being harsh to Gray and Erza for not being there for him.

"You should go home Luce… to your home I mean, as I said, there's nothing else for you to fix here" he simply turned around and walked away from her without bothering to look back. He got into the bathroom and held to the sink for a few seconds avoiding to look at his reflection, afraid of what he might find.

Natsu felt that if he searched in the mirror, he would find END himself looking back at him, laughing at his humanity to let him know that no matter what he did, he would end up burning everything he loved to ashes. He rubbed his face and got the shower running, he threw his clothes on the floor on the other end of the room and let the hot water fall on his face to cover the tears that he had been holding. He was sure this would give her enough time to leave without the awkwardness of him standing there.

Lucy was baffled, she was unaware if the feeling she had was sadness or anger, but it was strong and rising by the second. She balled her hands and shook her head "What in the name of Mavis is that idiot thinking?" she stood tall and walked to the bathroom slamming the door open without warning; she looked up and down at him with so much indignation that she almost missed the fact that he was in the shower both arms resting on the wall, letting the hot water run down his perfectly formed body, and making his pink hair stick to his forehead.

He just stared at her completely dumbfounded; she was frowning and biting her lip, so much fire in her eyes that it made him hungry for the element he had been missing so much; for a few seconds they both stared at each other without saying a word and just when he was about to break the silence, she stomped her way inside the shower without removing her clothes and forced him to face her.

"Luce…" she simply shook her head and pushed him against the wall "You are such as ass, you don't get it… do you?" he took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak but was shoved again "Who do you think you are to imply that I don't care?"

He tried to move again to face her, this time he saw her hand moving to hit him, he was faster than her; he grabbed her wrist and held it tightly "Stop Luce, you are going to hurt yourself…"

"Oh, I'm sorry… you are doing such a good job at that yourself!" she moved her other hand to push him away, but it only ended in him grabbing both her hands to push her to the other wall of the shower.

Steam was accumulating in the small room causing the temperature to rise, and that didn't help the situation they were facing; he was still angry at her, however that anger was transforming into something that was difficult to explain for him… the fire in her eyes, her pink top completely drenched and now almost transparent, and the passion he felt coming from her anger that surely matched his own, it was too much for him to bear.

Natsu pushed her wrists away with a bit more strength than necessary and turned around to face the water stream once more "I told you to go home…" He bit his lip and spoke his words with as much anger as he could although in reality, there was nothing but pain behind them "I'm sure there are plenty of stuff for you to fix somewhere else"

Lucy felt the fire in the pit of her stomach burning everything on its way, and she couldn't stop herself from reacting when he pushed his back and almost slammed him against the wall; she poked the scar on his back making him wince, his skin was mostly healed but was still sensitive and he couldn't help but let his mind take him back to that day.

 _He could feel the knife cutting through his skin again, slowly digging into him. This continued for some time although he wasn't sure how long it had been; Arlo had carved something below his nape._

 _"I think the words suits you… traitor"_

Natsu was brought back to reality by Lucy's voice "What the hell is wrong with you!? You are not even going to turn around and face me?" She pushed him once more and he had to stop himself from growling "Stop it Luce…"

XXX – Small Lemon, Stop reading if you are not ok with this type of reading - XXX

"Or what?" She pushed him again and this time it was too much for him; he turned around and pinned her pressing her wrists to the stone wall, their breaths were short and fast and without a warning he grabbed her nape and pressed his lips towards hers violently; she pushed his shoulders once before melting in his touch and pulling him by the hair on the back of his head.

It took only a few hot kisses for her to start fumbling with the button of her skirt, but removing it turned into a challenging task since all her attention was somewhere else. Natsu noticed her intention and simply pulled her skirt up before ripping her panties with one hand and turning her to face the wall.

His hand found its way to her pleasure point and he pulled her hips towards him, he put his knee between her legs to help spread them apart; she was panting, he had barely touched her, and she was about ready to explode, and suddenly in one single thrust he was completely inside of her.

She moaned loudly at the sudden pleasure and pushed her hips back even more to meet his moves; Natsu kept running circles on her pleasure point while pushing himself harder into her, he grabbed her hair and pulled her head to the side before biting the crook of her neck, eliciting the most delicious moan from her lips, that was enough to send her over the edge and he felt her muscles contracting around his length.

He continued thrusting harder and harder; the sound of her voice saying his name over and over fueled him. His right hand pulled her hips closer to him while his left hand made its way to her breast to squeeze it; he pushed harder every time until he finished.

XXX – Continue reading - XXX

He rested his forehead on the wall and his chin on her shoulder while they both tried to catch their breaths, but still no word left their mouths.

She turned around to look at him, her golden hair completely soaked and sticking to her face and neck; she was still wearing her clothes although they were a completely undone; even in this mess…she was beautiful.

"I…"

"Don't… I am going to leave… and you are going to think and make a choice" she took a deep breath and he could see the tears forming in her eyes again "you are either letting me in or pushing me out… but this…" she pointed at him and then back at herself "This can't happen unless we are both in it, do you understand? I grew up with a father that distanced himself from me… and by the time he wanted to change, the world wasn't willing to give us the time we needed"

"I am not like you father"

"Yeah… in many ways you are… you are a risk taker, you hide your feelings from the people closest to you and push them away… I would say you are quite like him"

"You know we are bound together"

"I wish that was enough reason for either of us to stay…" she wiped the tears from her eyes and gave him a determined look "I love you… and I know you love me, but I am not going to be somewhere where I am constantly lied to and made feel like I did something wrong"

He ran his fingers through his hair "I told you I would lie! I told you I would hurt you!"

"That… you did… I think we should admit neither of us is a good listener uhm?"

He bit his lip and tried to hide his feelings away "I guess we are not"

Lucy ran her thumb against his cheek and removed the hair from his face "This was a good way to say goodbye… for now" she brushed his lip with her fingers before exiting the shower and leaving nothing more than a trail of water behind her and him alone with his thoughts.

She walked towards the bedroom where she dried herself up and changed into a pair of jeans and a baby blue crop top, she got an overnight bag and left the room; when she was about to leave she stopped outside of the bathroom, the water wasn't running anymore and she could hear him whispering again, but as soon as she pressed her ear to the door he stopped.

* * *

Natsu saw her walk away and close the bathroom door, it took a few minutes for him to get back to reality, he started breathing faster almost desperately when everything started sinking "What the fuck did I do…"

"You did what we always do…"

"Shut up…"

"We break everything we touch… you know that by now"

"She is strong, I would never break her"

"That's what I thought… and look at how things ended up for us"

"You are not even here, why won't you leave me alone…"

"I'm never leaving you again little brother"

"You're fucking dead… you are dead… this is all in my head"

"Well I guess you could say we have a tendency to lose our minds… so, maybe…"

A small noise on the door cause Natsu to turn, he even signaled the apparition before him to stay quiet until he heard the front door and he knew she was gone. When he turned back his brother was gone, and he rubbed his eyes with his hands "Am I really losing it?..."

* * *

Aporia sat in a dark stone room big enough to hold a ball, big arcs and pillars on its sides held black flags with a red claw looking image in the middle. She lovingly brushed her fingers on the orb in front of her where she saw him breaking down over the celestial mage. She wanted to comfort him in a motherly way, just as she had done for her king once, but how could she if he was still unwilling to see reason.

"Nephele…" a dark purple cloud started spreading through the ground, it moved slowly until a silhouette became visible, and a woman emerged from the fog. She wasn't too short nor too tall, her face was almost ethereal; her hair reached all the way to the back of her knees, it was a light pink-gray, almost the color you see on the sky when the clouds eat the last rays of sun before it rains. She was barefoot, the only thing adorning her feet being a pair of black ankle bracelets; she wore a dark blue bikini top with a matching skirt that rode low on her hips, her creamy legs visible by the openings on each side of it that reached way above her tights.

She pressed her right hand to her heart and Knelt before Aporia "My lady, to what do I owe this honor?"

"The day is dry and sunny Nephele… too perfect for fire to catch on, but we don't want that… yet"

The dark purple cloud circled her as she gave her mistress a crooked smile, it moved at her will as another extremity. Nephele was a loyal servant and had been for centuries, she was known as the cloud-nymph and her domain as her name stated, spread to wherever her clouds could reach.

"Would my lady prefer a cloudy day?"

"Dear friend, you know I always would… although maybe since Helle has behaved lately, your clouds could be accompanied by a little rain"

Nephele's smile grew wider, her daughter hadn't been allowed out in so long. Helle was impatient and always changing, temperamental as the sea-goddess of Hellespont and had been known for causing ruckus even for the standards held inside Nihil.

"She will not disappoint you today"

"I'm sure she won't, but please let her know that if she makes us proud, it will be her honor to present Chrysomallus to the prince"

A few happy tears fell from the cloud-nymph's face while she kept her hands covering her mouth "What have we ever done to deserve such an honor! I will let her know at once!" she bowed and disappeared quickly into a dark purple cloud that engulfed her body before dissipating into nothing.

Aporia was left alone with her thoughts while she kept observing the young pink haired man through her orb, she had done it many times throughout the years despite his brother's objections. When she looked at him he saw so much promise, and she couldn't avoid thinking about how she had gotten to this point.

* * *

 _Her nature was just as her name suggested, wherever Aporia went, doubt and disorder followed. Centuries ago she had met a young knight, and when he promised her suffering was over, she believed him with all her heart; the first thing she thought when she saw him was that he was a man among man, and he was as kind as they came._

 _The happiest years she had, were the ones with her knight, but just like everything she loved… it had to come to an end. He had been sent to the front lines during one of the many wars they faced, led by their greedy king, and had fallen victim to wizards from a different land; his body too torn to be recognized, and she received nothing aside from his wedding band and a few scorched medals._

 _Aporia had magic of her own, her father had been a wizard but died too soon for him to nourish her natural talents; it seemed war was determined to take away everything she loved, no matter the time of history she was in; her mother, however, dealt with different forces and thought her daughter well before passing; she had been a powerful witch capable of bending anyone's will if she ever wished to._

 _With her pain fresh for the loss of her husband she dealt with the darkest forces possible and made a deal with the devil himself to get the power she needed; her king would be no more, if the men at his service were not returning home then he would share their fate a thousand times over if it was up to her._

 _She left and set her way to participate in a war that wasn't meant to be hers. Aporia had killed, maimed and vanished many of her enemies in order to get closer to her goal; the King's army had not been a match for the endless power she took from hell itself, no one understood how it worked, or how she would manage to make all man turn on each other to tear their comrades apart._

 _She was painfully aware that there had been many innocent bystanders that had fallen victim to her revenge, one of them being Nephele's daughter who had lost her grip from her brother's waist during crossfire and fallen into the water; her life was spared only when Nephele shared her story with Aporia and convinced her to plead for the young woman's life with the water spirits._

 _Not too long after, Aporia found her way into the King's chambers and pierced his heart, the war between the lands was over the moment the King died, no man was willing to risk his life for a dead man._

 _With her revenge completed, Aporia settled within the mountains to live life as she pleased; she traded potions and remedies in town where she also spent her money drinking at the local pub with man that could keep her warm an night; it all changed one day, she knew right away when the seed of her loneliness became a living creature in her womb._

 _Her daughter came nine months later, a precious child with hair as black as hers, deep dark eyes and a feisty spirit._

She was brought back from her trance by Helle herself "Aunty! Is it true?!" Aporia rolled her eyes "You could try to be more respectful towards me, child"

"Nhm… no one is around… I'll be all formalities when the others arrive" a huge grin made its way to Helle's face "WELL? Is it?!"

"I'm assuming you refer to your mother's news?" She nodded excitedly making Aporia giggle "In that case yes, it is true, but Helle…"

"I Know, I know! I'll be in my best behavior" her big green eyes narrowed when seeing the orb; she removed a strand of her messy short hair from her face and sat next to Aporia "Why has he been so sad?"

"He's been sad because… well...we've made him sad"

"Aunty… would he come home otherwise?" Aporia smiled and grabbed her chin between her index and thumb "No, he wouldn't. We are doing this for him"

Helle smiled again and rested her chin on her hand "Natsu looks so much like them, doesn't he?"

"He does… he has his mother's eyes, and his father's smile…"

* * *

Lucy made it almost all the way to the guild before it started pouring, this reminded her very much to the time where she searched for Juvia to comfort her, but if it was even possible, this rain felt worse; the rain felt so heavy that her muscles were struggling to take the last few steps towards the guild's doors.

Once she was inside, she brushed the water off as much as possible and joined Cana and Mira at the bar "Whoa Lucy! You getting ready for the wet t-shirt contest or what?"

"Cana… I'm so not in the mood for this right now"

"Whoa, ok… what happened?" Lucy looked at Cana and raised her eyebrow "I'm honestly not sure… ahem… but I don't think I want to talk about it now"

"You are blushing… Mira isn't she blushing?"

"Oh my… I believe she is…"

Lucy winced and rested her forehead on the bar before covering her head with her arms "Why are men so stupid?"

"Oh, ok we are having this type of talk, Mira… bring the heavy stuff and call the reinforcement" Lucy shook her hands and head quickly "I don't think that's necessary! I really don't want to talk about it"

By the time Lucy had refused it was too late and the rest of the party was already walking towards her, carrying different drinks and snacks; everyone started chatting and for a second, she thought maybe Cana and Mira would forget about her minor slip.

"SO! Lucy… what did Natsu do?" Cana rested her chin on her hand and gave her that evil half smile, all the girls went from her to Lucy and back until Levy pushed the matter further "I was about to ask where he was, you've been welded lately… and after what happened earlier…"

"Everything is fine, ok? We just had a… weird…ar-gument?" Erza pulled Lucy to her chest and smashed her face against her armor in a tight hug "Oh Lucy! He shall be punished for making you suffer! We have thought him better than that"

"I mean it's not… hmm… it was a bit too confusing…"

"And now you are blushing again… just spill it out!"

She rolled her eyes and covered her face with her hands "S…so… ok… we kind of got into an argument…and… he asked me to leave and go back to my house"

"WHAT?! I can't believe he did that! That's it, I'm going there right now!"

"Lisanna wait!" Lucy grabbed the young white hair mage by the wrist and pulled her back, she was blushing harder now "Ok… am… so he did that and left to take a shower and I got angry… so I barged in and shoved him"

The girls were staring at her waiting for her to continue and she took a deep breath "A-and then I shoved him a-again… and he told me to stop… and I didn't and… and… so…"

"OH!" Cana was smiling widely while Mira giggled covering her mouth, the rest of the girls were a bit more clueless "Ok, so Lucy, how was angry-sex with Natsu, then?"

"Oh Cana! You are always thinking about that! Lucy wasn't referring to…" Lisanna observed Lucy's face go 4 shades redder and stopped her previous sentence "Oh…ok, ahem… so…"

"So, how was it!?" Levy seemed a bit more excited about the idea and had basically jumped to pull Lucy's arm.

"I-it was… interesting"

"Interesting bad, or interesting good?"

"Interesting good… but now I feel kind of bad about it you know? I told him he needed to decide where things were going and to let me know once he did, and I just left him there! I mean come on… this is Natsu" she rubbed her temples and took a deep breath "I shouldn't have left him alone, he is dealing with so much…"

"Indeed, he is, but that doesn't mean he doesn't need to figure things out, I am sure by tomorrow he will feel better" Erza laid her hand on Lucy's shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah… I guess you are right, I wanted to go back later but with this rain it's going to be hard"

"I'm glad your emotional turmoil has been taken care of… but can we please focus on the most important topic here?" Cana had a serious look in her face when she pressed both hands on the bar table "When are you going to tell us about your newly found sexual life with our idiotic, clueless, and adorable dragon slayer?"

"Geez Cana!... Gr…Fine! He is actually… not clueless… at all…" a few eyes widen in surprise "Ok… and with that you mean..." Lucy cleared her throat and avoided their eyes "I mean… he is naturally curious… so… you know… he clearly knows where everything is… it's not like he needed a set of instructions to find his way around"

"Well! I didn't see that one coming, that's for sure!" Cana gulped down half her drink and laughed loudly.

"You should also probably know he has been playing you all like a violin for years… he knows a lot of stuff about everyone and understands almost everything"

"Lu… come on… we grew up with him, there's no way" Levy crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the side.

"I'm telling you, that cute puppy eye look, and head tilt are one of his best tools to get what he wants from you… he knows you can't get that mad if he doesn't understand…"

The girls had their mouths opened in surprise, eyes widen and completely speechless "And newsflash, he is probably not the only one that knows too much about _everything_ … you two should go check on your own dragon slayers, they probably know all the interesting gossip around here" Lucy gave them a cocky smiled, and almost at the same time they heard Gajeel chocking with his beer.

Lily patted Gajeel's back rapidly "What the hell? Are you ok?" the iron dragon slayer kept coughing and waving his hand "Ahem, I am fine! Just leave it!" he blushed and turned away rapidly avoiding Levy's stare.

"Oh, and was that Laxus I saw locking himself in the master's office?... how convenient, don't you think Mira?" The aura around the Take-over mage started spreading dangerously while she walked towards the wooden door.

"Lucy, you just made a mess here, you know that, don't you?"

"Well, right now I have no way of punishing you Cana… but still… that was kind of fun"

"So… are you going to tell us what you guys were mad about?"

"It's complicated… he said he remembered some things about his family… and he meant his parents and his brother, I was so shocked of how nostalgic he seemed at the word and he picked up on it…"

"Ah… well that makes sense… he's never missed them because he didn't know who they were, but why did he remember after so long?"

"I'm not sure… I think it has to do with that guy from the council… but I though he was here to make sure Natsu was stable… it doesn't make sense"

"I guess we'll have to keep our eyes open, didn't he say he was coming back tomorrow to deliver his report?"

"He did… hopefully the rain we'll be gone, and we'll be able to move around"

* * *

He sat on the couch staring at the wall, the one with all the missions he had taken, pictures of him with his friends and memorabilia; his head felt like if it was about to split in half at this point.

Natsu had been trying to convince himself that his mind was just tired and that he was not going crazy but seeing the image of his dead brother on and off was making him consider other options, he had been there when he left the guild earlier, when he had walked with Lucy, and when she had left.

The words his brother spoke to him outside the guild kept echoing inside his head

 _"Little brother… won't you come home already?"_

 _"You are not here… and I'm not…"_

 _"You know you are… remember when you were little and would get scared during thunderstorms? You would sneak into my bed and I would sing for you until you fell asleep"_

 _"I don't remember that… I don't want to remember that"_

 _"What was that silly lullaby? Mom used to sing it to us all the time… how did that start?"_

 _Natsu lowered his head and bit his lip before whispering "I lost my way and walked alone… into a path where nothing grew" Zeref smiled and closed his eyes "Oh yeah…"_

 _I lost my way and walked alone, into a path where nothing grew,_

 _I was so scared to never find, the light to guide me by your side,_

 _The dark clouds and thunder ripped through the sky,_

 _Light and dark bringing shadow shape images alive._

 _I should have known you'd find me there, to hold my hand and make me safe,_

 _You are my home, my friend my life, the one to always bring back my smile,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, together we will always push it away,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, we'll light the path and make our way,_

"Stop…"

"But we are missing the best part… the part when we go home, where we belong"

Natsu turned quickly, he knew Lucy was now standing at the door observing him and couldn't help but open and close his mouth a couple of times, as if trying to say something.

"Shall we go?" He tried to smile but his heart wouldn't allow it, that song had stroke a cord that he didn't know he possessed, and he suddenly remembered his mother, she smelled like fresh cut grass and roses.

"Why did you walk away?"

As if choosing the best moment to pop into his sight, he could see Zeref again _"This is going to be fun to explain little brother… I mean it is normal to see your dead brother… isn't it?"_

"I just had to, it was a bit… over…whelming?"

"Sometimes things can become overwhelming… but you need to trust us"

 _"You'll endangered her… just like I did with Mavis"_ Natsu tried to avoid looking at him directly, he knew there was no way to explain this to Lucy "It's not that I don't trust you Luce… come on, you know it's not like that"

"Ok, so… tell me what it is then" he tried to explain the best he could, which was not much since he didn't understand himself; all these new images were flooding his mind and making him feel stuff that wasn't there before. He didn't wish to talk about it and he made it clear to her, but when she asked again, he felt the need to give her something, no matter how little; the moment the word _brother_ left his mouth and he felt her flinch he knew it had been the wrong decision, he felt hurt.

Zeref had been a monster in this time, but then again Natsu's time wasn't this one… his time had started four hundred years ago when is brother was protective and kind, when he would play with him and cut his food, sing him songs and read him books… but all she could see was the blood in his hands, blood that he had caused in many ways.

A thought popped into his head, could he completely regret the bloodshed? had he not died, his brother wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to bring him back, maybe… maybe he wouldn't have come to this time, nor met Lucy; would he want to live a lifetime without her? Without making her smile and enjoying her ramble about everything she loved? If his true mate was born four hundred years after him, would he have been alone if not for this war?

 _"I told you to not tell her yet… she won't get it; she is a hypocrite like everyone around you… Am I so bad? All this can be tracked to the pain I felt when losing the people I loved the most… Do they not remember what you turned into when you though she was gone?"_

Natsu wanted to stop listening, but the words simply wouldn't go away; he didn't really know if people had been hurt during his breakdown, he never asked; how could they stand there and blame a man for succumbing to darkness due to pain and be so supportive towards him? His anger was towering on him at the though and when he heard her voice inside his head something in his eyes changed…

 _"How do I fix him?"_

He felt his blood boil inside his veins, how dare she? He felt like a broken toy that had been kept only because of nostalgia; _"You see… she thinks there something wrong with you! The only difference is that now you see, they don't want you to see"_

It all spiraled from there, he was caught in between listening to Lucy, Zeref and speaking his own mind, although at that moment it was hard to know if that was what he really thought. There was so much noise in his head that it was impossible to keep a clear mind.

 _"She's going to die if you don't push her away"_

"You demanded I be honest, and told me if I couldn't tell you then I should say so"

 _"Her bright star will fall under your darkness, she doesn't want to know the truth"_

"But when given the opportunity to ask you may not want to know the answer"

"Are you fucking kidding me Natsu? Why would you think that I don't want to?"

 _"No one can accept what we are brother, you need to go home"_

"Are you even listening to me?"

 _"Tic Toc brother, time is running away from you, listen-listen-listen to the ticking clock"_

Natsu was brought back from his thoughts by the heavy rain and thunder outside, his heart was still pounding, the image of his brother was nowhere to be found.

"I am… I am losing it…" he looked around almost expecting for his brother to appear again "SO, is that how it's going to be? You are going to appear to ruin every single conversation I have, but when I actually call for you, I'm going to get nothing?"

He felt sick, Lucy had actually compared him to her father, the man who had hurt her the most in her life, the one that almost ruined her; he didn't know what possessed him when he jumped her in the shower, he had felt the itching on his neck, the anger in his gut and that tingling feeling inside and his body had moved by itself.

It hadn't been like before, any other previous times they'd been together had been either filled with love and devotion, or with desperation and need… but anger? His mind started going wild again, had he hurt her? Had he bruised her pale skin and body? As the memories filled his mind, his member twitched, and his anger rose; he knew for sure there was something wrong with him if that idea was causing a reaction on his body.

All the sudden he heard humming, almost as an echo in the forest, it was a tune he knew and had heard not long ago from the lips of his dead brother, but it sounded like a woman's voice. He opened the door of his house and followed the sound without even putting a shirt and shoes on. The rain was heavy and thick, but he didn't mind that much; he didn't understand how the sound of the humming was so clear in his head despite of all the noise around him and he started humming along.

He reached the lake and saw a silhouette of a woman, she was wearing a celeste dress with crossed chain straps above her chest, the dress opened on her stomach revealing her black shorts, but the tail of the dress was so long that it would drag behind her and its color varied between purple, celeste, and pink… it almost reminded him to a mermaids tail.

The woman was humming the tune and when she saw him, she smiled and spoke the words he had been thinking of on his way there…

 _I should have known you'd find me there, to hold my hand and make me safe,_

 _You are my home, my friend my life, the one to always bring back my smile,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, together we will always push it away,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, we'll light the path and make our way,_

She kept humming and twirled on the water, he took a step towards her and his feet sank right away, and that's when he noticed; she wasn't sinking, she was walking deeper and deeper inside the lake without a concern.

"How do you know that song?"

"Well, hello to you too! I knew you'll find me" she smiled and for some reason it seemed so familiar to him, but he didn't know why "Who are you?"

"I am who I am, but who are you?" he raised his eyebrow, he had never enjoyed this type of game "I am Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer, son of the Fire Dragon King Igneel! I am going to ask again… who-are-you?" he pointed at her, his face less surprised than before.

"Whoa… that was a pretty treating face love, but we both know you won't risk using your magic… also I mean no harm, I'm after all family"

"I already have one of those, thanks…" he turned around to leave but the words he heard from her made him stop "You should listen to your brother, home is the only place for you… and this ain't it"

"I… don't have a brother" he had said those words before and felt nothing at all, but when he said them now, he felt his heart break a bit "I mean… he is dead"

"Well he talks a lot for a dead guy, don't ya think?" she skipped a few times and got deeper into the lake and he was forced to walk inside it until the water was above his waist "Wait! You see him too?"

She laid above the water as if it was a bed and rested her head on her hand before looking at him "You fear going crazy, am I right? But if that's the case, would that even matter? Am I even here? If I answer to your question would that answer be real?"

"I d-don't know…" she nodded in agreement "Exactly, but in the end, it doesn't matter what I think, only what you think… so you need to decide if you are going crazy or not! Simple uh?"

"You are not making sense… are you going to tell me who you are?" she smiled and sat up raising her hand to greet him with a huge grin "I am Helle, the water spirit of Hellespont" she stretched her hand towards him and after a moment of hesitation he grabbed it; he didn't know how, but she suddenly pulled him up and he was now sitting on the water, it almost felt like a comfortable cushion.

"How did you do that?" she shook her hand to disregard him "I thought the water spirit part was clear. You look very tired… have you not been sleeping?"

"That's none of your business… I don't know you"

"But I know you…" she lifted her hand and touched the metal contraption around his neck, and he flinched at her touch "I hate to see you like this my prince, you are not met to keep suffering"

It was so clear now, how could he not have seen it? He tried to get up but when he moved, he started sinking again and was forced to stay put "Tsk… You are with that crazy woman"

"Hey! More respect for your elders!" She stuck her tongue out "Anyways, that's what she would say… you know we are only trying to get you what you deserve. A place that will fear and respect you, a home with the ones who truly love you just as you are… all of you… the human, the dragon, and the demon…"

"I have a home, and people that love me" she puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms "People that are trying to change you! That don't understand you! I wouldn't change a hair"

He rubbed his eyes with his palms and huffed in annoyance; he felt extremely tired all the sudden and felt his weight pushing him down and his eyes closing; she had started humming again and she grabbed him and pulled him to her lap for him to rest.

Natsu tried to get up, but it was almost as if he couldn't move; she brushed her fingers trough his hair in a soothing way and started singing for him…

 _I lost my way and walked alone, into a path where nothing grew,_

 _I was so scared to never find, the light to guide me by your side,_

 _The dark clouds and thunder ripped through the dark night sky,_

 _Light and dark bringing shadow shape images alive,_

 _I should have known you'd find me there, to hold my hand and make me safe,_

 _You are my home, my friend my life, the one to always bring back my smile,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, together we will always push it away,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, we'll light the path and make our way._

 _Hand in hand we created the light, to defeat the evil that kept us apart,_

 _We walked together creating the path, a trail that would always lead us back,_

 _Because no matter if we are ever alone, when or where we have to go,_

 _We'll walk the trail we made long ago, the one that will always lead us back home._

* * *

The rain had finally stopped during the night, fortunately the guild had plenty of space for them to stay comfortably, although most people had engaged in heavy drinking the night before to pass the time.

Lucy stretched her arms and walked to the guild hall yawning "Morning Mira! Can I get some breakfast?"

"Sure! I'm guessing toast, fruit and tea?" Lucy smiled and nodded before taking a sit and resting her forehead on the table only for her rest to be interrupted by the sound of flapping wings and two paws on her head.

"Lucy! How did it go with Natsu yesterday? Did you make him better?"

"Happy… get off my head…"

"Did you?!" Lucy raised her face forcing Happy to land on the table "We had some sort of argument yesterday… but I am going to find him after breakfast, so we can straighten things up, ok?"

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you to make him better! You probably threatened to smash him until death!"

"Shut it cat! Stop being so dramatic… it was only a… small fight… ok?"

Mira came back with Lucy's breakfast and as soon as she finished, she and Happy walked back home to check up on Natsu. The path was too muddy, so, it took a bit longer than expected, of course that would be one of the downsides or living in the forest.

As soon as the house came to view, and they noticed the door was wide opened, both Lucy and Happy knew something was wrong; they rushed inside the house to find it empty, lots of water inside the house due to the heavy rain.

"We need to find him, Happy take the skies, see if you find any trail of him"

"AYE SIR!"

Happy flew as fast as he could, he first went to the small shelter Natsu had build with Lisanna, the place where they had taken care of Happy's egg, he flew in between the trees in the forest, entered a few caves and found nothing.

"Natsu… where did you go?" a few tears started falling on the exceed's cheeks, and when he wiped them away a thought occurred to him "The lake!"

He got to the lake in no time and was surprised by what he found, the rain had been so heavy that the water seemed cloudy and muddy too, almost as if the water was ticker than before; he scanned the place with his eyes and started flying above it, it didn't take long for him to spot his friend.

Natsu was laying on the edge; half his body was still inside the water, only his upper chest and arm were on solid ground; his hand was holding the root of a tree and Happy felt his blood freeze inside his body. The tree that his friend was holding on to for dear life was black, almost completely scorched, even the soil around it seemed dry in comparison to the rest of the place. Happy rushed to his friend and noticed he was breathing, when he tried waking him up, he noticed his skin was cold and his lips were pale.

He lifted him up as much as he could but carrying dead-weight-Natsu was much harder, his speed was not as fast as he wanted it to be. He yelled for Lucy until he found her running somewhere on the field and when she saw Happy carrying Natsu, she smiled for a second; It took that amount of time for her to notice he was basically a rag doll being moved from one side to the other.

Happy didn't stop, he kept flying home in hopes that Lucy would catch up and he could put Natsu safely down. Once he flew through the open door, he laid his best friend on the couch and got a towel to start drying his body as much as he could, he even removed his soaked pants and threw them on the floor.

"Hey Natsu! Come on!" his poor eyes were puffy now, he had been crying for his friend all, he got all the blankets he could and piled them up above him trying to make him as warm as possible.

It didn't take long for Lucy to run through the door, trying to catch her breath "What happened to him?!

"I don't know, I don't know! I just found him on the lake and he was so cold!"

Lucy sat close to him and tried to warm him up as much as possible "Natsu? Hey, come on…" Happy doubted for a second but he knew if he was telling someone, it had to be Lucy "I… think he used magic"

She felt like all the blood had left her, it couldn't be, they had barely been home for a bit over a week, he still had six months to go "W-why do you think that?"

"There's a tree… he was holding on to it and it was burned… I don't know if it was him but, but…"

She took a deep breath and got ahold of her keys "Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!"

"Princess! I've missed… whoa what the hell happened?!"

"Loke, listen… I need your help" his face became serious "What do you need"

"There's a tree in the forest, Happy will tell you which… I need it gone, no trace of it, make sure there's no magic trail either… take whoever you need, just tell me who do I need to summon"

"Lucy…" she shook her hand "Loke, just do it… Happy take him there, now; the council guy is still in town and if he finds that…"

"Listen, he is still going to know if he used magic, there's nothing you can do"

"I don't care… we have to try ok? Just… please Loke"

He took a deep breath and looked at his master and friend "Whatever you need, princess… I'll let you know if we need any help" It didn't take more than a couple of minutes for them to leave. Lucy didn't see color returning to his face and her concern grew.

"Maybe I should get Polryusica… but the more people we get involved…"

"You don't need to do such a thing child, I am here to help" Lucy looked up and saw the dark-haired woman she had seen through Natsu, she was wearing her hair the same way, a messy bun with two chopsticks, but now she wore a floor-length purple wrap dress.

Lucy reached for her keys when she noticed the woman lowering her head and raising her hands "I'm not your enemy… for now; this was not supposed to happen…"

"What are you talking about?"

"This doesn't matter now… he has no energy inside of him, no reserves…" she pulled out a tiny flask from her pocket "This will make him better… not enough for it to be detected, not too little not to make a difference…"

"Why should I trust you?"

"You shouldn't, but neither of us is interested on him dying. Listen carefully child, it will be your choice to give this to him or not, but whatever the cost may be, I won't let him die, even if I have to burn this whole town to the ground and feed its flames to him…"

"What will happen?"

"It's barely enough for him to wake up… not enough for him to recover; you should be more concerned for that filthy council rat roaming inside your guild" she tossed the flask at Lucy who held if between her fingers and saw the orange and red color of its content.

"What is this?" Aporia smirked at her in a way that causes Lucy to shiver "Tears from an old friend… one he will meet again soon"

As soon as Lucy blinked, the dark-haired woman disappeared into thin air, no trace of her left behind; she recovered from the initial shock and looked at the small flask again, considering her options, but at the end of the day… she would never be willing to lose him, no matter what she had to do.

She opened I and placed it on his lips, watching as the liquid made its way inside his mouth; her heart skipped a bit as soon as she saw him swallow and his lips immediately pinked up a bit; his eyes fluttered open and she cupped his face.

"Luce?..." She kissed him sweetly, tears falling down her cheeks "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry" she didn't care if she had just signed her soul away; if the woman had proposed the most horrifying deal, she would have taken it without blinking… because no matter what, the man before her had become her life, her happiness and her reason to exist.


	27. Chapter 27

**I apologize for my absence, so... as it turns out, life is actually a tragicomedy way longer than a 2 hour movie. I will not be using the space to vent because you guys come here to follow up on the story and not to read me whine about shit LOL. I may have dropped the ball a bit on the edition on this one, my mood and energy levels from recent events are not back to normal, so if you find something wrong as always please fell free to let me know and I'll take care of ti right away.**

 _ ***Remember Italics are for memories, dreams, or internal dialogues***_

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"It was one of those times you feel a sense of loss, even though you didn't have something in the first place. I guess that's what disappointment is- a sense of loss for something you never had."**  
 **― Deb Caletti, The Nature of Jade**

* * *

"What is this?" Aporia smirked at her in a way that causes Lucy to shiver "Tears from an old friend… one he will meet again soon"

As soon as Lucy blinked, the dark-haired woman disappeared into thin air, no trace of her left behind; she recovered from the initial shock and looked at the small flask again, considering her options, but at the end of the day… she would never be willing to lose him, no matter what she had to do.

She opened the flask and placed it on his lips, watching as the liquid made its way inside his mouth; her heart skipped a bit as soon as she saw him swallow and his lips immediately pinked up a bit; his eyes fluttered open and she cupped his face.

"Luce?..." She kissed him sweetly, tears falling down her cheeks "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry" she didn't care if she had just signed her soul away; if the woman had proposed the most horrifying deal, she would have taken it without blinking… because no matter what, the man before her had become her life, her happiness and her reason to exist.

* * *

Natsu's mind was still foggy, as if not fully awake from a dream he wasn't aware of having, his lips curled upwards as Lucy planted kisses on his cheeks; he started closing his eyes again but felt Lucy's hands cup his cheeks.

"Come on, you can't go to sleep, wake up"

"Yeah, yeah…" He couldn't help it, he was too tired. He grabbed the blanket and covered his face "Natsu! I'm not joking come on" she tried pulling the blanket a bit and even giggled at how childish he was being.

She observed the blanket-covered lump for a couple of minutes and when she noticed he was slightly snoring she shook him again "Natsu!"

"Ok… just… five more minutes" in that exact moment there was a sequence of foggy images that invaded her mind and that was Natsu resting his elbows on the banister outside of the guild, talking to the someone she couldn't quite see; she saw the scene unfold before her eyes, she was there, asking him if he wanted to go home and both of them were looking at her.

She moved to the kitchen to make some food and tea; there was a feeling in her gut telling her something was wrong but trying to see through Natsu had been problematic in his current state, everything was blurry.

Lucy knew what she'd seen, but it made no sense… he had been alone there; there were very little explanations and none of them did much to calm her nerves.

It didn't take long for Loke to appear before her in the kitchen "I'm back Princess"

"How did it go?" Loke smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up "Have I ever disappointed you?" she smiled at him, but as soon as she did, he hugged her by the waist "You have 2 seconds before I tear you apart Lion… your choice"

The leader of the zodiac rearranged his glasses and smiled at her "Hey, you can't blame me for trying… anyways… removing the tree wasn't hard, making it seemed as if it wasn't there however… that was interesting"

"Did you do it alone?" he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head "Of course not, I asked Virgo, and Taurus for help… who else was going to be able to dig a hole that deep, and pull the thing out?"

"But I didn't summon either of them… did they use their own magic?" Loke nodded and smiled "I offered to come to you, but they wanted to help and thought you would be better looking after flame over there"

They heard some noise and when they turned, they saw a sleepy looking Natsu resting his weight on the kitchen door "I smell bacon…" he rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly before scratching his stomach.

"Of course, food **would** be the thing to wake you up…"

"Shut up Loke" Natsu raised his eyebrow when noticing the celestial spirit closeness to Lucy "You ain't trying something funny with my girl, are you?" at that Lucy scrunched her nose and placed her hands on her hips "OH! Now I am your girl?" she gave him a smile that he knew meant he would pay for everything later, and he scratched the back of his head.

"K…so…ok… I'm sorry" she looked quite unimpressed by the apology and signaled him to continue "and?"

"And…I am the most horrible, inconsiderate, stubborn idiot that has ever lived… better?"

"Not quite… try again" he rubbed his face and took a deep breath "And I am lucky to have such a gorgeous, wonderful and understanding girlfriend?"

"Getting closer…." He gave her a sleepy smile, and before he could continue apologizing Loke intervened "Could you please not do that while I am here? It's disgusting…"

"You are just jealous because I get to sleep with her every night" Loke rolled his eyes at him and acted nauseated "Yeah, yeah… that's clearly a cry for help"

"Both of you stop… Natsu, I am still angry at you and there are millions of things we need to talk about, but right now you need to eat something… we kind of have a situation that requires all of our attention"

He frowned but didn't ask, he sat down and ate as much as he could; he usually didn't take coffee but that morning he decided it could be beneficial. He was ready to leave when Happy flew in almost slamming into him.

"Hey Buddy!"

"You are awake! I was so worried!" Natsu frowned again, he didn't get why everyone was acting so weird "Why?"

"Never mind that! Lucy! I flew around the lake to see how things went and I saw that creepy guy from the council snooping around!" at the mention of Remy, Natsu stiffen his posture and looked away.

Before all of this, the council didn't make a difference for him, he would barge in and scream whatever he needed to say and then fix the consequences, but this guy was a different story; Remy Radoub had purposely made him vulnerable, he was trying to hurt him and although he understood he had an agreement with the council, this had not been what he expected, it felt personal.

"Shit! Ok Happy, did he see you?" The blue Exceed shook his head "Nuh uh, I was super careful! He walked around the lake and he stood super close to where the tree was earlier, he looked a bit confused"

"Did he leave?" the blue cat simply shrugged "I'm not sure"

"Ok… we can't risk going there unprepared just in case he comes back" Lucy rubbed her forehead "I can't believe I'm saying this… Happy… get the fishing gear out"

Loke sighed and rubbed his forehead "Why the fishing gear? This is not a time to go out and relax" Lucy raised her finger and stared at him "Because if he is still at the lake, we will need an excuse to be there, duh!" the celestial spirit's mouth formed a small "o" before nodding "Got it"

"Well Happy, what are you waiting for? Go get the stuff"

"AYE!" he flew away quickly to get everything ready, leaving the three mages behind.

"Can someone PLEASE explain what the fuck is happening?!" Natsu felt angry and confused, it was almost as if there was a completely different conversation happening in front of him and he was not part of it.

"Ok I need you to tell me step by step what you remember about yesterday"

Natsu's head was still spinning and his mind was foggy; he sat down and started recapping the events from the previous day "That asshole from the council was at the guild, and he" Natsu immediately started rubbing his temples "he put my brain in a fucking blender that's for sure… we came home and had a fight, and" Lucy blushed and decided to cut him off since Loke was still around "OK! And afterwards?"

His eyes suddenly widen and some images appeared on his mind, and when he looked up he could see his brother sitting on a chair, resting his face on his hand, and his elbow on the table, smiling back at him; Lucy saw the image flash in her mind and she turned back quickly to look at the place Natsu was staring at, but it was empty.

"What are you looking at?" He brushed his face again and shook his head "Nothing…"

"Ok! Lucy, I have everything we need! Let's go" no one needed to say it twice, Natsu was a bit too eager to follow the small flying cat and for once was thankful by his interruption.

They started walking slowly, Natsu was still very tired and would often stop from getting dizzy "Maybe you should go back home… you are not well enough yet"

 _"You should listen to her little brother, you need to get some rest"_ Natsu spoke with a harsher tone than necessary, as if trying to respond to both of them "I'm fine, just drop it…" Lucy could tell sometimes his eyes shifted to the other side, sometimes his mouth would twitch as if wanting to react to a comment but she decided not to mention that for now.

"Am… so what else do you remember?" Natsu took a deep breath, discreetly glanced to look at his brother's stoic face and then back at Lucy "It's still a bit confusing"

 _"Right… that's one way to say it, or maybe try to explain that either you are perceiving things differently or your brain is possibly broken"_ Natsu was getting tired of listening to his brother without responding but didn't feel there was a way to explain this yet, and if he was honest with himself, the points he made were not far from reality.

As soon as they got to the lake Natsu froze and stared at it, he frowned in concentration trying to hold to one single idea but there were too many of them; he started walking by himself, Lucy tried to call him, but he wasn't listening anymore.

He stood in the place where the tree was supposed to be and then back at the water a couple of times before the tiredness got the best on him causing him to fall on his behind. Lucy knelt next to him and notice his breathing had spiked up and his body temperature was still irregular.

"Dammit… you should have stayed home; Happy can you take him back?" before Happy could reach him, Natsu stood up and tried walking stumbling with every step until his feet touched the water, before he could get any further Lucy pulled him away.

"Are you crazy!? You are still freezing and I'm sure going in there won't help" When he didn't respond right away, she noticed his eyes were different, almost lost and missing their brightness; she grabbed his chin and turned him to face her but it was as if he was looking through her at someone on her back; she cupped his face and rubbed his cheek with her thumb before giving him a soft chaste kiss "Hey… look at me".

Natsu fell her pulling him from within and automatically faced her, he hugged her and let her scent fill him once again and for some reason that grounded him enough to come back to himself.

"I was here yesterday… wasn't I?" Lucy nodded on his shoulder and nuzzled him.

"You scared us pretty bad Natsu, I found you right there!"

"I'm really sorry little buddy… I didn't mean to scare you guys"

Lucy pushed him a bit to look at his face and he immediately missed the closeness "That's not our biggest problem…" Happy flew between them, landing on Natsu's arms "When I found you, there was a tree there and it was completely burnt, you were holding on to it tightly"

"Fuck… did I, are you sure I did that?" the blue exceed shook his head "I just found you there and took you home, no one knows what happened"

 _"Someone does know little brother… are you going to tell them why you were at the lake?"_

Loke noticed when Natsu's eyes travelled from one place to the next, he saw his friend frown in confusion and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"We got rid of it, but with that thing on your neck I'm not sure there's much more we can do"

Natsu wasn't sure if he found this concerning, or so bad that it was funny; there he was… he finally had a family, the girl he loved, and hopes for the future; for the first time in years he had everything to be happy and he still couldn't make it happen.

The image of his brother stood behind Lucy, staring back at him and humming the same tune as the day before "Why was I here?" His brother smiled and kept humming without saying a word.

"I was hoping you would remember something" Lucy replied thinking he had thrown the question out there; he turned to her immediately and bit the inside of his lip, he had to be more careful, at least until he was either sure his brother was there, or he knew for sure he was going crazy.

"Princess, shouldn't we head back to the guild?"

"Yeah, you are right… I would rather for Natsu to stay home and rest, but…"

"Are you crazy? I ain't staying home" Lucy rolled her eyes at him "Well, we still need to go home to get you some warmer clothing, you still feel cold"

"Yeah… yeah…" they started walking home slowly, they knew it was taking Natsu much more effort to move now than before. After some time, they made it home and he plopped on the couch and rubbed his face.

 _"I keep telling you that you need to rest, when are you going to take care of yourself?... What are you def now? Natsu? Hey…Natsu"_ Even when he tried to avoid his presence, constantly listening to him was tiring _"Oh, are you acting like I'm not here anymore? That's not going to work forever"_

"Here" Lucy handed him a long sleeve red shirt and held a jacket on her arms just in case it wasn't enough; he smiled at her and changed, still trying to avoid the annoying humming his brother had gone back to.

"I'm going to change, I'll be back soon ok?" she kissed his forehead and walked away leaving him in the company of Loke.

"Are you ever going to tell us what's going on?" Natsu gave him a wary look "I don't know what you are talking about"

 _"Uh oh! The Lion is up to something little brother… he is on to us"_ the small shift on his eyes was not missed by the leader of the zodiac "You keep doing that… what are you looking at?"

"Loke we are friends, right?" his eyebrow rose, and he crossed his arms above his chest "Hmm yeah… why"

"And, promises are important to you… right?"

"I'm not sure I like where this is going… maybe we should wait for Lucy"

"No, I need to tell you something, and I need you to promise you won't tell her… it's for her own good Loke"

"My life is hers Natsu, I can't promise not to tell her something important"

"If you can't keep stuff from her… then you won't be able to keep her safe when…" he was interrupted by her footsteps and her voice "Ok, we should probably get going", both mages exchanged a look before following Lucy out the door; however that unfinished sentenced had made Loke more concerned than before.

* * *

Aporia paced the room with her arms behind her back, her purple wrap dress being dragged behind her at every turn; the doors of the hall opened revealing Nephele, following close behind was her daughter Helle holding her hands nervously in front of her and staring at the floor.

"Helle…" Aporia stared at here for a couple of seconds and the tension made the younger woman flinch "Look at me child…" Helle bit her lip and tried to contain the tears from falling, she slowly rose her eyes to meet the witches stare "I-I'm…"

"You are what? Sorry? Do you know what this little adventure of you just caused?"

"I know…"

"He could have died Helle! If I hadn't been watching… if we hadn't been able to get to him in time…" The water spirit stiffened her arms and balled her fists "I know! I just wanted to help him heal aunt… My lady… I'm tired of watching him in pain… I thought my healing water could help, but I didn't know the physical injuries were nothing compared to the emotional ones…"

Aporia looked at the girl before her; Helle had always been a handful, she was as restless and impulsive as the ocean itself but her heart had always been in the right place. Aporia's face softened and once she was close enough she held Helle's hands lovingly "I know… we all want to heal him, we all want him home… but you will need to let things happen according to plan, promise me"

"I will aunty… w-will I see him before his arrival?" Aporia cupped her cheek "I think not my dear… he'll have many questions, some that can't be answered yet" She looked a bit disappointed but nodded in understanding "What will happen now?"

The black-haired witch took a minute to analyze the situation but found no suitable answer; she had not foreseen this, therefore had no way of planning ahead, she knew the rotten council man circling their precious charge wouldn't rest until Natsu closed his eyes for good.

"I do not know… we have no other choice but to wait and see how this plays out, there's not much we can do now"

She was right, they wouldn't be able to spare him from pain and Helle fell guilty about everything, sure not every fault in their plan had been hers, and she had been there to try to help him, how could she know she'd make things worse?

It seemed like the story of her life, no matter how Helle tried to help she always ended up making a mistake; she left the hall and walked to her room following a long stone aisle filled with more high pillars and big metal and wood doors.

Despite of the gray stone wall everywhere, her room seemed filled with life; she had a golden canopy bed covered by a light blue curtain with very simple white lace details that reminded her of the ocean waves; her ceiling was covered with small crystals that shone with the dimmest light resembling the stars; at the foot of her bed there was a large and fluffy pink carpet, it was so comfortable and thick that she sometimes laid on it to read.

Helle leaned on the bed and sat on her pink carpet hugging her knees and cried, why did it had to be so hard to want the best for someone? Who in all the realms could know what was best for him if not them? She knew he wouldn't see it that way, the celestial mage had become his world and she hated her for it.

"Why… why does everyone have someone they love more than me?"

* * *

*The memories of Helle*

 _Helle and her brother Phrixos had been raised as nobles, nothing to be spared when talking about the prince and princess; she was a spoiled brat, and her temper was well known inside the castle, since the only one that could calm her down was her loving restless brother._

 _The twins were very much inseparable, and everyone was glad, it took one look from the young prince, one hug, one of his big smiles to make Helle forget about why she was upset._

 _They were about tree when things started changing, their mother was no longer living in the palace and had been exiled by their father, not long after, a new woman had come into his life and ruled next to him._

 _Nephele would hide in the night clouds and sneak in their room to steal a few goodnight kisses and hugs from her precious children but it still wasn't enough. They regularly talked to her about Ino, their father's new wife and current Queen, and how she would treat them when he wasn't looking; her heart ached for not being able to transform them in small clouds and take them away for good._

 _Everything got worse one day when King Athamas was away on business and they were left with their pregnant stepmother. The twins hated being left alone with her, and even the staff that once feared their temper now felt bad for their current situation and tried to care for them as much as possible._

 _"One day my child will inherit the world, while you take care of your crazy old mother" Ino said while pointing her golden spoon to the pair; the stare she gave them was filled with disdain and bitterness._

 _Phrixos, who was as temperamental as his sister, but generally more controlled than her, was not able to restrain himself this time. He was the Prince and true heir to his father's kingdom and in that moment, he decided he wouldn't be intimidated by the woman before him._

 _He stood on his chair to keep the Queen at eye level, and finally talked back at Queen Ino._

 _"Don't you ever talk like that about my mother you… old cow!" the queen moved so fast that it barely gave him time to prepare for the flying plate that broke against his head and caused him to fall to the ground._

 _Helle ran to him and held him close, his bright smile gone and replaced with pain and tears; the hate she felt for her stepmother had never been as big as when she saw the bright ruby liquid dripping from her brother's head._

 _"You… you will never touch him again…"_

 _"Oh… and why is that little girl?" Helle knew she should stay quiet, take her brother out of there and run but her tongue betrayed her "Your child will inherit nothing is he is dead… touch my brother again and I will see to it…"_

 _She saw Ino's face changing from indignation to fear and she felt proud of herself, barely four and already making people fear her, just like a real queen should. Of course, raised as they were it wasn't uncommon for them to always try to speak as if they were grown-ups but even then, she could tell she had taken it a bit too far._

 _It all collapsed once their father returned; Ino was afraid… and there was nothing more dangerous than a fearful woman._

 _The queen had convinced her loving husband that their territory was not big enough, that the other kingdoms didn't show enough respect to him and that they did not deserve to have independent ruling, he was after all, the greatest king and he would have the greatest heir in no more than a couple of months._

 _The woman had made the king start a war that they were not prepared to have, the worse part is that she knew it. Their kingdom was generally peaceful, they had no field experience and even the ones that did had been living from their former glory for over a decade; thousands of good men died in a matter of days._

 _The other more experienced kingdoms had closed the trading routes causing for food to be scarce, their once rich rivers had been polluted by the rotten corpses left by an unplanned battle, making their water poisonus._

 _"We need to pull back…"_

 _"My king! We have not lost yet, retrieving now would be the real loss… people would think you are a coward my love"_

 _"I am no coward, but how much can our people take Ino?"_

 _"They will take whatever they can for their beloved king, should they not be grateful for your generous ruling?" Ino knew how to strike the king's ego, and she took advantage of that whenever she could; he nodded while brushing his long brown beard "Should they not be thankful that you have produced tree precious heirs?"_

 _"How do I wish for Athena's wisdom and Ares' overwhelming force… Why have the Gods abandoned us Ino?"_

 _"Maybe the Gods would favor us if we surrender to them" The king looked at his wife's loving eyes, her hand rubbing her enormous pregnant belly and a sweet smile, a well-practiced pose she had perfected over time._

 _"Maybe they would…" Ino saw her opening and took it without shame "It pains me so much to say, but the Gods would favor your firstborns, they were a double blessing despite of their mother, and it would truly show your surrender to their will"_

 _The king shook his head "But they are my kids…"_

 _"Some wars require bigger sacrifices than others Athamas"_

* * *

Helle was brought back to reality by the sound of her door, her mother entered the room and sat next to her before pulling her to lay on her lap.

"Don't be sad my love" Nephele brushed her daughter's hair with her fingers to try to comfort her.

"Mama, he could have died… I would have never been able to face Phrix again if he had"

"Baby, your brother is long gone…"

"He's dead mama, he's not gone… I'll meet him again someday and when I do, I want to tell him I kept the family safe… we were too late for Zeref, we can't fail with Natsu"

"I know love… no one can defeat Ankhseram's curse, we cannot blame ourselves"

"Mama but if we had gotten to him before…"

"We cannot dwell on the past my love; Natsu will have to endure much more before joining us… we need him to be strong enough to take down the ones that have decimated our family and threaten to take away everything we love"

"I just hope he understands…" Nephele smiled at her daughter and rubbed her cheek "I hope so too"

* * *

By the time Natsu and the rest got to the guild, he was so tired that he sat on one of the corner tables and laid his head on it ignoring any offering of food. He was always about to fall asleep again when a familiar smell gave him goosebumps causing an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The guild doors slammed opened to reveal Remy Radoub along with a couple more people dressed similarly to him, a white knee length jacket, black trousers with long black boots and the council's symbol above their hearts.

Lucy's eyes widen when she recognized one of the men following Remy "YOU! Get out of here right now, you are not welcome here!"

"Ms. Heartfilia, you are not entitled of deciding whether or not we are welcome in this guild"

Natsu's face was still buried on the table but his fists were clenched so hard that his knuckles were completely white; despite his near-death experience, being almost completely drained, and extremely tired, he stood up slamming his fist on the table, causing it to crack.

He walked slowly between the crowd and moved passed his friends, Lucy tried to stop him but he simply pushed her hand away; she would have tried again if it hadn't been for Loke, who sensed this was not the time to push him harder.

He stopped in front of one of the men who was built like a mountain, bigger and wider than Elfman, raven colored face and many more scars than the ones he had before, a sling on his right arm, and an eye permanently shut could be seen from the half mask covering his mouth.

"You…"

"So… the demon still speaks, I thought I had scared you so much that maybe you had stopped all together"

Natsu's voice was deep and low, he looked him up and down and smirked "And here I was thinking I had been the one to scare you, Arlo…"

"What can we help you with, Mr. Radoub" Makarov walked all the way to Natsu, followed closely by Laxus. Remy could tell by their faces that they were as unhappy with the executioner's presence as Lucy and Natsu, and he was happy to disturb them in such a way; he was about to speak when he noticed several guild members moving closer to the Dragon Slayer.

Natsu was still right in front of Arlo, almost wielded to the floor, to his right Makarov and Laxus Dreyar, to his left Gray, Gajeel and Erza; Remy raised an eyebrow and almost mocked at their defiance when he noticed the black-haired Ice Mage pushing his arm on Natsu's chest to remove him.

He noticed then, they were not trying to protect their friend, they were not scared of him getting hurt again, but were trying to stop him from unleashing chaos; the idea was a bit ridiculous for him, he was weak now and under their control, if he was to try something he could easily activate the contraption on his neck and break his spine all together if he desired; oh how he wished to do that… if the Slayer would just give him an excuse.

"Master, we come to take Mr. Dragneel into custody, of course"

"Under what grounds?" Remy frowned innocently as if the answer was obvious "Magic use of course, he broke his commitment to the council, and as if it wasn't enough, yesterday's results make me think he continues to be a danger to people"

Makarov stayed in silence for a couple of seconds before turning to Natsu giving him a stern look "Did you?"

"No…" With very little time to think Natsu responded quickly and without hesitation, and although that small amount of doubt may have gone unnoticed to the council, Makarov saw it right away, he had after all, raised the boy as his own.

"There you go, he didn't use magic, now… leave my house at once"

"We have a register of this" As soon as the words left Remy's poisonous mouth, Lucy stepped forward with all her confidence and pointed her finger at him while resting her other hand on her hip "Show us the record then"

"The record is not public information, we detected a blast of magic yesterday evening and we plan on moving forward as the agreement stablishes"

"Fine, don't show us the record, but you will need to give us some evidence if you want to take him away, I'm sure there's something within the council rules about that…"

"There won't necessarily be evidence, he could have used a little of his magic for all we now!"

Gray stepped forward and blocked Natsu's view "Have you seen him use his magic before?"

"I have not, but I hardly doubt that…"

"Ok! So, you do not know the destructive power that comes with it, am I correct?"

"Like I was saying, I…" Lucy waved her hand "Either show us the record… or tell us where he used his magic, it will be incredibly easy to tell if he did" he scrunched his nose, he had been to the lake before, and although they did detect some dissipated magic energy, it mostly came from the water and they couldn't completely match it to Natsu's magic signature.

"That won't be necessary, I'm sure if Mr. Dragneel doesn't have a thing to hide, he will subject himself to an interrogation" that simple statement caused the room to go silence for different reasons and the only sound that was heard was the breath that got hitched on Natsu's throat.

Natsu, Lucy, Loke and Happy were silent because they knew about the lake and the three, the rest of the guild had recognized the name "Arlo" as the person who had branded their friend and attacked Lucy and were still shaken by the state Natsu ended up in the previous day after his session with Remy.

"That wouldn't be necessary if you had any evidence…" Remy tapped his foot several times and then shrugged "For all I know any of you could have gotten rid of the evidence Mr. Fullbuster, maybe we should start by interrogating his closest friends…"

Natsu looked up immediately and pushed Gray aside to face the council's group "That won't be necessary" Arlo's good eye sparked with excitement "So, you admit you broke your arrangement"

"No, I didn't say that" he rubbed his forehead and shook his head "I don't remember much of yesterday… or today" Natsu could see his brother walking between his enemies and humming, and he couldn't avoid his eyes from following him _"It's all smoke and mirrors Natsu… smokes and mirrors"_ his brother gave him a warm smile before moving to the other end on the room.

"Fine, if you'll follow me to the basement then" as soon as Remy moved, he was pulled back by Laxus; he didn't say much but kept his grip tight on his arm until Makarov was standing in front of him "If you think you are taking the boy alone again, you are terribly mistaken; if this will determine his fate then we will require for someone to witness"

"Gramps…" Makarov gave Natsu a look, one that meant the topic was not up for discussion, one he rarely gave him despite of all the trouble he had gotten into in the past.

"Fine… and who will be joining Mr. Dragneel?" Lucy was about to step forward and Natsu knew it, so he decided to make the decision before someone else did "Gajeel and Gray… they can come with me"

The Ice Mage and the Iron Slayer exchanged an awkward look; there was no question, after what Natsu had done for them, they would do what he needed them to do, however the concern of them seeing what had shaken him so badly the day before was something they couldn't get rid of.

The four men walked downstairs, their heavy footsteps echoed on the stone walls all the way to the basement; Natsu rested his back on the wall and looked at his friends "This is going to suck… could you?" He looked at the wall and then back at both mages who were now wearing a confused face.

"You want us to restrain you? Come on he is just going to look into your head, how bad can it be Flame brain?" Natsu shook his head and sighed, he knew what was coming but couldn't explain it to them.

"Just do it, ok?" They did as they were told; Gajeel secured him with his Iron and they both stood on the side waiting for Remy to continue.

In any other situation, they would have called Remy's domain of his magic, something incredible… but the reminder that this was not only borderline torture but also a big invasion of his friend's privacy, grounded them in a way nothing else would have.

As soon as Remy stepped closer to Natsu and raised his palms towards him, he was surrounded by blue colored walls that started broadcasting fast images, it was not as clear as a lacrima, but clear enough for them to recognize what they saw.

There were tree energy screens in total, each displaying something different. The first one had a young Zeref sitting at a dinner table with an even younger Natsu and both of their parents; he was standing on the chair fighting his older brother for a cookie when his father took it from his hands and split it in half "Always share with your brother"

"I wouldn't have to share if I didn't have one!" Natsu stuck his tongue out and chewed on his cookie when he felt his father's hand ruffling his hair "You know, I used to say the same thing about my sister, I never knew how much I would miss her until she was gone"

Both boys looked at each other and rested their elbows on the table "I didn't know you had a sister, how was she like?" their father smiled and rolled his eyes "She was a complete trouble maker, not unlike a pair of boys I know…" both children smiled at each other and laughed without much concern.

The image started turning darker until the same scene Natsu had seen before started playing, the roof of the house was burning, his mother holding him and trying to protect him, the blood trickling down her mouth before the dragon threw her body as if it was nothing more than a rag doll, the terrible sound of bones breaking when she hit the ground echoing in his mind.

Gray and Gajeel were surprised and horrified but they couldn't look away, and when they saw Natsu's father being carried by his ankle, they immediately flinched; the horrible image of their friend's father being ripped in half, the blood spattering above him… it was just too much.

They saw Natsu distracting the Dragon to save his brother only to fall to his death; the image of Zeref holding his brother and crying for him to stay was heartbreaking, he constantly asked him not to leave and promised to find a way to bring him back.

They still didn't understand the Black Wizard, their hate for him was still rooted inside of them, but for some reason seeing this, made them realize what this was all about… a desperate attempt to recover what he had once lost.

The second screen was something they had heard of before, but were not able to picture as vividly; Natsu's Nightmare kept restarting as a never-ending torture, they could see Lucy and Natsu back in her apartment, laughing a and having fun; he brushed the hair from her face, leaned over just a bit and surprisingly she leaned the rest of the way, it was all perfect until the crimson scales appeared on his arm.

His eyes were deeper and had an amber circle around them, and his teeth were sharper than before; it a sudden move his black claws pierced the side of her stomach and when she tried to pull away it was too late.

The image of him holding her in place while ripping her to pieces was almost too much to bear, every time he pulled his claws away her blood would spatter, and they could see bits and pieces of her insides landing on the floor.

His teeth were deep in her shoulder and his claws were almost peeling her skin away until there was nothing but pieces of her everywhere. Her porcelain face was stained by red just as her golden hair, her eyes had lost their brightness as soon as her heart had stopped beating.

They saw the image change, his eyes lost the amber light, his scales starting to retreat and the realization of what he had done had started sinking before a scream full of pain left him; this time it wasn't only his image but him, he was screaming and the restrains were barely holding him in place.

It was painful to watch their friend trying to put her back together, knowing whatever he did wouldn't fix the fact he had taken the brightest light in his life.

The last screen seemed to be for the most recent time, and although not the most disturbing, it was certainly the most confusing one so far, they could see Natsu, leaning on the rail outside the guild having a conversation, they could see him walking home with Lucy, their argument; all of those memories had one thing in common, Zeref was in them.

The image changed to the rainy night where Natsu walked to the lake and Remy grinned for himself, he almost had him where he wanted it; he was sure this would be the final nail in Natsu Dragneel's coffin.

They saw him laying above the water, resting his head on the woman's lap while she brushed her fingers on his hair, water swirling from them and covering him little by little; his eyes had started closing and in just a few minutes he started to struggle with himself until he was completely asleep.

After that everything was blur, a high expansion wave and a bright light followed by nothing but darkness surrounding everything until Natsu opened his eyes to see Lucy; Remy was beyond mad, another chance of getting rid of his enemy had passed him and the only thing he had to make himself feel better was the pain he knew was causing him.

He lowered his hands and the energy screens disappeared, it took seconds for Gray and Gajeel to move closer and remove the restrains; Natsu just fell to his knees, he had pulled so hard during this session that both his wrists were bleeding from the pressure, and he was still trying to catch his breath.

"Go get your master…" Gray looked at Gajeel and silently asked him to go while he knelt in front of Natsu.

"Is this any different than what you saw yesterday?" Remy looked up and tilted his head "A little bit, just the most recent events, the other two are almost the same"

"Why?" The interrogator smiled at Gray's question and nodded "This magic is called "Reminis" is the ability to pull and recollect specific life memories, the first two are what makes you… well you, your essence and your self-doubt, the third is for me to fill depending on what I'm searching for"

"Couldn't you have done it without the first two?"

"Yeah, I could have" Gray's blood became ice cold in a second, he clenched his fists and gave him a hateful stare which almost caused Remy to laugh "I found people will be more honest when facing pain and fear Mr. Fullbuster, this is after all an interrogation, don't expect me to be doing your friend any favors"

In that moment the sound of steps echoed through the walls and not long after, Makarov made his way into the room followed by Gajeel and Laxus.

"Well Master, we have reached an impasse and I'm leaning towards the safety of the people"

"I've been told that he was not seen using magic, so it is my understanding he has held his end of the deal Mr. Radoub"

"Ah yes, but he can't explain his presence at the lake yesterday, where our records place his magic use, which would be suspicious enough. His mental state is clearly not right, and it is my believe that he would put everyone at risk"

"His mental state?"

"Oh, how convenient for your children to mention he didn't use magic but to leave out the fact he believes he's speaking to his dead brother, who happens to be the most abhorrent and evil mage who has ever existed"

The moment he finished the sentence Natsu pulled himself up by using the wall and hissed "My brother… was sick with pain and loss" he tried to walk closer to Remy but stumbled a couple of times before Gray stood in front of him and placed his hand on Natsu's chest.

Gray was more than a bit surprised, his friend looked drained and weak and despite of that, the amount of strength which he used to push himself against his hand was so overpowering he had to place his body completely in front of Natsu "I would like to see what you do in the same situation"

Remy couldn't explain the feeling but at that moment, the man who a couple of seconds before looked like the grim reaper would collect him soon, that man that he was determine to destroy, seemed much taller than before; visibly he could tell he was the exact same man, but the energy coming from him was so heavy he felt overwhelmed and scared of him; this wasn't magic power, this was his own spirit claiming domain.

Natsu's stare had no emotion, it was a blank, expressionless, and cold stare with a slight smirk that sent shivers down Remy's spine, and then he noticed; it was small, but he could see that his eyes had a small amber ring around them that he recognized from the images.

His voice came out shaky despite his attempts to remain in control "Is t-that a threat M-mr. Dragneel? I wouldn't do that in your p-position"

Natsu smirked again, and responded in a calm way; everyone was amazed at how different his reaction had been from the day before "I don't believe in threats"

"Natsu" he scrunched his nose and looked above his shoulder "Gramps?" he knew just by looking at him what he had to do, so he took a step back and crossed his arms above his chest without saying another word.

"Mr. Radoub, at this point you have no hard evidence on magic use, you can just place him at the lake, and although I understand the concern for his mental state, I believe that could be dealt with here… he has after all gone through enough to make a regular man go mad"

"And you expect me to not take action? If I am right, he could put everyone in danger Master Makarov, is that something you want to carry with you?"

Makarov gave him a stern look, one not to argue with "You are not taking him, you don't have enough to do it, so, that is out of the question. I understand you want to protect the people, so do we… and you are free to do so without taking the boy"

"And if he loses control?" Makarov raised his eyebrow and stared at Remy "Then we will take the boy down ourselves"

"You will regret this… he will be the end of us all" Remy stomped his way up the stairs making an unnecessary amount of noise, he stood in the middle of the guild to collect the rest of his men "He will kill you all, he won't shed a tear for any of you" he stormed out of the guild slamming the doors while the rest of his party followed him closely.

No one dared to say a thing, all eyes went to the place where the stairs started but no footsteps were heard either. Romeo slammed his hand on the table and stood up pushing his chair back.

"COME ON! This is Natsu we are talking about… You can't take that guy seriously" There was no response, silence filled the room in an uncomfortable way and the only person who made eye contact with him at that moment was Lucy. Her hand was close to her heart and she smiled at him, silently thanking him for stepping forward, and he knew what had to be done; he walked around the table and stood on the place where Remy had been before.

"Was he not here for me when my father was missing?" Macao immediately took a step forward and nodded "Aye…"

"Was he not here when Phantom Lord attacked our friends and destroyed the guild?" More people joined in, including Shadow Gear "Aye…"

"Think about it…" There were a few seconds of silence which added to the current tension in the room. Wakaba took a long puff of his pipe "He helped get the Master Back from Alvarez" Erza nodded "He saved me from the Tower of heaven too…"

Lucy's eyes were filled with tears, and she cleaned her face with her hand before smiling "Let's not even start on how many times he has brought me back home" there were a few nostalgic laughs.

Romeo knew they had doubted, it felt as if all the happiness was being sucked dried from the guild, as wood fire dying and leaving only one small hot coal to keep alive and he knew this was the moment where he repaid his big brother Natsu "Has he not been willing to put his life at risk over and over for us? This is Natsu… he would face Dark guilds, Dragons, Black Wizards and Gods for his family… for us" His words suddenly hit home and people felt ashamed of doubting someone who had done so much for them.

The hot coal that he had decided to nurture went alive again as people started nodding in agreement, he had done too much for them and they wouldn't turn their backs on the situation, because Natsu wouldn't. A small hand wrapped around Romeo's arm and squeezed.

"You did good" Wendy was smiling at him and he couldn't help but blush, her long blue hair had grown all the way to her waist, her face had maintain her angelic look but there was something more grown up about her; he didn't know if it was her longer legs, her slimmer face, or just the sum of it all, but for him, she was even prettier than before.

"I… he… yeah… thanks" he rubbed the back of his head and she laughed "He does that too" he tilted his head and she almost melted at how adorable and clueless he looked "When he gets nervous, he rubs the back of his head"

He went four shades redder than before "I'm not!" Wendy covered her mouth with her right hand and giggled harder than before; she let her hand slide and brush on his arm a bit before letting go "If you say so" Romeo watched her ran towards Lucy and placed his hand where hers had been a few seconds before.

"Wow… you have no game kid… at this rate you will ask her out when you are your father's age…" Bickslow laughed loudly before being smacked on the head by Evergreen.

"You are one to talk, how long has it been since your _almost_ gallant action?"

"NOBODY ASKED YOU, EVER!"

Romeo was still blushing, but he wouldn't miss an opportunity to tease Bickslow of all people, it was funny to watch him under such a different light. The masked quirky man had always been incredibly inappropriate, eccentric, and one to brag about every conquest; but for an unknown reason he had not been able to get his act together when referring to one person in particular.

"It may take me a while… but I'll still ask her out before you ask Lisanna" Ever laughed loudly and Freed did a sad attempt to contain his own laughter "You little piece of shit! Who even said I want to?"

Before the argument started, footsteps were heard on the stairs and all conversations stopped, Makarov came out first, hands behind his back and his eyes closed, followed by Laxus, then Natsu, Gray and Gajeel.

Natsu walked directly towards Lucy and hugged her by the waist, he buried his face on the crook of her neck and just stayed there before whispering "I'm so sorry… I should have talked to you… I'm sorry".

Lucy looked at Wendy who had been close enough to hear him and the look they exchanged was of fear and uncertainty.

The Master's voice was loud enough to reach every corner of the guild "Starting today we will begin training… hard training, everyone will rotate with the S Class mages and myself for this purpose"

Wendy raised her shaky hand "That's sounds good Master, but why?" Makarov took a deep breath, but before he could answer, Natsu let go of Lucy and turned to face his friends "To take me down if it comes to it"

If their hearing had been good enough, they would have heard hearts breaking, internal screaming and some anguish, but instead they only heard the voice of the same boy who had been defending the man he saw as a brother "No, you must be joking! No one could ever take you down and there won't be a need to!"

Makarov stepped forward "He can be taken down, maybe not by a single person so you will be training in groups to improve your strategy and team work, he won't be defeated by strength alone"

 _"You need to go little brother… they'll try to kill you and you'll end up killing them"_ Natsu was tired, exhausted really; his mind kept spinning from all the images he saw, the energy drain and more fuzzy memories that came to him every time he met Remy. He rubbed his forehead and shook his head.

 _"Just like in your dream Natsu, you don't want that… let's go home"_ Natsu took both hands to his temples this time and said "No, stop it" in voice so low that it was only heard by the remaining Dragon slayers who immediately walked towards him.

 _"You will probably take her first, her pretty blond hair tainted red… unlike with you… no amount of magic will ever put her back together"_ It was so much more than what he could take, going back to the image of her lifeless eyes, her body scattered everywhere; her blood painting the apartment walls and curtains and him holding her, unable to fix what he had done "Stop if Zer! I won't! Just go!" he knelt and slammed his fists on the floor.

They never knew if the building shook because of his fists or if the moment had caused them all to shiver. Natsu was still kneeling and pressing his hands to his ears while trying to catch his breath when Lucy knelt in front of him and placed her hands above his to pull them from his ears.

"Look at me…" he stared at the floor for a few seconds and took a deep breath before facing her; she looked at him and bit her lip "All the apologies in the world will do nothing if you don't tell me what's going on, you understand that?" she waited for him to nod and brushed the back of his hand with her thumb "You said Zer, what… are you…?"

"I… started seeing him yesterday… flashes while I was still in the basement" Lucy released his hands, she was upset about him still keeping things from her, but she knew this was neither the time nor the place "Why didn't you say something?"

"Luce… what was I supposed to say?... Hey by the way I started seeing my dead brother a few hours ago and he hasn't shut up since he started talking to me?"

"Is he… still dead?" Wendy was still standing behind them, Natsu could smell her fear and the fear emanating from the rest of his friends, he wanted to put them at ease but, how could he? He wasn't even sure he wanted his brother to be dead anymore "I don't know… I thought he was, but…"

"But?" Natsu looked at Lucy with a mix of sadness and frustration "But either he is alive, and all of our sacrifices were useless, and depending on his mood we could be royally fucked, or… I am losing my mind, and could become as dangerous as him… or more…"

That short moment felt like an eternity to him, it was colder than Gray's demon slayer magic, more painful that his stay at the council, lonelier than his year away. He replayed the same images in his head, just as when he was inside that basement in a never-ending torture of his losses and mistakes; the same nightmare of his friends turning their backs on him, the same that Fukuro had taken advantage of before Natsu finished him off.

" _I'm Back!"_

" _Why did you come back Natsu?" Gray using his actual name was odd enough, but the way it rolled out of his tongue was as painful as a stab._

" _What do you mean why? I live here Ice-Princess"_

" _You were banned from here! Get it in your head!"_

" _Wh… you are crazy!" he looked at his shoulder to see his guild mark gone. He looked up and Gray wasn't there anymore. Erza was now standing in front of him._

" _How could you? Did you really think we would be happy to take you back?"_

" _Erza… but I… I did what I had to! You need to understand" He winked twice and now saw Master Makarov; the look he gave him sent chills down his spine._

" _Gramps…"_

" _I should have left you where I found you. I never thought you would bring such shame to the guild" Makarov turned his back to him, and the guild darkened._

 _Natsu tried to run after him but couldn't catch up. He saw Lucy crying in a corner and ran to her; he tried to hold her hand and was rejected immediately._

" _Just leave! When did you become such a monster!? Because of you they are gone!"_

He was shaking, he had never been a loner and that was a weakness he had tried to overcome during his year away, but even then, he had Happy. The blue exceed knew him well and when he saw the shadow in his eyes he simply laid above his head before slapping his forehead.

"I told you spending so much time with Lucy would make you dumb! You would never be a danger to us" Lucy rolled her eyes at the comment before placing her hands on his shoulders "Your stupid cat is right… you would never hurt us" she brushed some hair from his forehead and when he looked up, the stares that met him were not the ones he imagined.

His friends looked sad and concerned for his well being but not afraid of him, and even if he disliked that, he still felt relieved when the images on his head started retrieving back into that hidden place in the back of his head.

 _"They want to keep you safe, we should go before you repay their kindness with blood and fire"_ This time Lucy noticed when Natsu's eyes shifted and she cupped his face "What does he want?"

Natsu stiffen a bit, it was weird for him to admit what was happening, but he took a deep breath and looked right into her eyes "He wants me to go home… I don't what he means by that" Lucy smiled and gave him a quick peck before she stood up and turned to the place where Natsu had rested his eyes moments before.

"I don't know who you are, of if you are even really here… but I'm warning you to leave him alone; you are NOT taking him away from me, his home is right here with us"

"AYE SIR! Stay away from Natsu you invisible meany!"

Natsu couldn't avoid laughing at his brother rolling his eyes _"Your friends are insufferable… and naïve… but it won't be long before they see…"_ Zeref smiled at him before fading away.

"Well now that has been settled… Tomorrow morning I will assign the groups that will train together and a training area" Makarov was in his usual place on the bar with his arms crossed, he was hoping this would be a last resource that would never be used, and he wasn't the only one.

"Why can't we work with out usual teams?" Natsu stood up and ruffled Wendy's hair "Because is better if I don't know what's coming"

"Why don't you go ahead an do it now Gramps? I need to talk to Natsu about a couple things" Laxus waited for his grandfather to nod before turning to Lucy "I'll drag his ass back home later blondie"

Both dragon slayers left the guild and walked in silence until they were standing in front of the Kardia Cathedral, Laxus leaned on the door and crossed his arms above his chest.

"Remember our fight?" Natsu huffed "You mean the time I beat the shit out of you? Sure…"

Laxus raised his eyebrow, and scrounged his nose "I recall you being bandaged from head to toe, but anyways… do you remember how I got there?" Natsu took a second to consider and he shook his head "I guess I never asked…"

"Exactly" Laxus took a deep breath and looked up "I was tired of being the shadow of Makarov Dreyar, but also of my father… people could only compare me to them and regret I wasn't more like gramps, I blamed him for kicking my father out because despite all odds I cared for him"

"Loving the heartfelt conversation, but why are you telling me this?" Laxus smirked "You are still an idiot… I learnt from my mistakes and I grew up… something you should do sometime. You are not your brother, you won't make the same decisions so stop being scared of it"

Natsu immediately looked up and frowned "Who said I was scared?"; Laxus pointed as his nose and smiled, "You can't hide it dumbass… You know… I knew how bad my father was and I still asked gramps to let him come back… several times"

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" Natsu looked down and frowned "Because you cared for him in the past and that stuck with you… and because you understood how he got as bad as he did" Laxus smiled and nodded "Why do you think your brother got like that?"

"I think it was too much for him to carry the loss, and he tried to make it better but every time it took a bit from him… I think when you take someone's life, that gets stuck with you, like a constant reminder of what you did, and that also takes away little parts of you… after long enough, what's left doesn't even resemble to who you used to be"

"Taking a life is never an easy decision Natsu"

"That's the problem, it was the most painful decision but… it was the easiest I've made…"


	28. Chapter 28

**OK, so things are not back to normal yet, but getting there (Hopefully) after being poked, tested, annoyed in general, and finding the correct Dr to visit I am happy to say things look better, ANYWAYS, here's the new chapter, YES the story will get extremely tangled and confusing because as some of you suspected and shared through messages... there's no such thing as coincidences.**

 **On another item, I DID get a bit overexcited by writing the background stories for our elemental spirits/semi deities, but it's just so much fun XD I do not regret it a little bit (I'm a sucker for mythology and all its incredible creatures), so feel free to skip it if you consider it necessary, there are a few important things in there but nothing that would cause you to completely miss the point I think.**

 **\- A-**

* * *

 **Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.**

 **Haile Selassie**

* * *

Natsu immediately looked up and frowned "Who said I was scared?"; Laxus pointed as his nose and smiled, "You can't hide it dumbass… You know… I knew how bad my father was and I still asked gramps to let him come back… several times"

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" Natsu looked down and frowned "Because you cared for him in the past and that stuck with you… and because you understood how he got as bad as he did" Laxus smiled and nodded "Why do you think your brother got like that?"

"I think it was too much for him to carry the loss, and he tried to make it better but every time it took a bit from him… I think when you take someone's life, that gets stuck with you, like a constant reminder of what you did, and that also takes away little parts of you… after long enough, what's left doesn't even resemble to who you used to be"

"Taking a life is never an easy decision Natsu"

"That's the problem, it was the most painful decision but… it was the easiest I've made…"

* * *

"What do you mean?"

"We will all do whatever it takes to keep the family safe, wouldn't you do the same?"

"Possibly…" Laxus looked up and closed his eyes "Be honest… was that the only reason?" Natsu didn't respond right away, instead he crossed his arms behind his head and turned his back towards Laxus.

"I asked you a question"

"I know… I…" he took a deep breath and turned back to face his friend "No, it wasn't the only reason" Laxus didn't move, he stared directly at him waiting for him to continue "Tsk… I wanted to hurt him, ok?… I wanted to make him suffer as much as I could, and I wanted to be the one to take him out…"

"Why?"

"Why? What do you mean with WHY? He took her away! He was forcing her to marry him and he wanted to… be with her and force her to have his child! He could have killed our entire family if he wanted Laxus! And you ask why?"

"Yeah, and we've been in the same risk of losing everyone many times before… Phantom Lord, Face, Lullaby, Nirvana, Jellal… ME!... so why?"

"I can't lose anyone else!" Natsu clenched his fists and looked down "I didn't remember my birth family, I went through hell when I was alone, and I had no one… then I had the guild and Lisanna…"

"She came back" Natsu gave him an annoyed expression "I can't see her the same way… you don't know what it was for me to lose her, none of you do, I grieved… I was happy when she came back but that part of me was gone… "

Natsu took a few seconds for himself, he kicked a rock from the floor and shook his head "Then Lucy happened… the constant fear of losing her kept me on edge, and Igneel… I spent every single moment of my life after he left looking for him… only to watch him die protecting me and my new family…"

"He died fighting, just as any of us would have Natsu"

"I know… it's just… now it seems my family will always end up dying because of me…"

"How did you get to that conclusion"

"That fucking idiot from the council… he made me remember parts of my life before…" Natsu rubbed the scar on his neck "That's how my mother and father died… and when I though my brother was going to die too… I just… I was stupid"

"At least you remember them now, it can't all be bad"

"I guess… I've been getting flashes of them, I still don't remember much"

"What were they like?" Natsu's face changed and a small half smile made its way to the surface "She was strict, but very sweet and loving, she made the best cookies and smelled like sugar and strawberries… he was relaxed and playful, extremely strong but very kind to everyone… he probably got in as much trouble as Zer and I did" Natsu laughed but quickly stopped and rubbed the back of his head "I'm sorry… I shouldn't talk about him after what he did"

"Maybe you should… I mean he wasn't always bad, neither was my father. People are neither good or bad Natsu, nothing can erase what he did, but that doesn't mean you should forget about him"

"I guess you are right… he looked just like my mother… the same black hair"

"What was her name?"

Natsu looked up as if trying to find the answer before him, but it didn't come; he was surprised on how easy it was now to remember her face perfectly, every line and shape, her smell and the softness of her hands, but to not remember something as simple as her name.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to relive the limited conversations on the dinner table, but at no point were their names mentioned, the only sound that came to mind was her mother's sweet lullaby, and the resonating sound of his father's laughter.

"I… don't know"

Laxus could see the pain his friend was clearly try to hide and he genuinely felt bad about it; he knew they had not ignored the situation knowingly; Natsu had a personality so magnetic that they simply chose to see what he wanted them to see, and now he was paying the price for years of hiding how he really felt.

"It will come back to you… when it's time" He did not know how very true those words will turn out to be; he had no way of knowing how the memories slowly flooding his friend's mind will guide his decision until the end.

"I think I should go back home…" Laxus smiled and shook his head"I told blondie I would take you back"

"Yeah I think from all the things I've done to piss her off that won't be the most concerning one" Laxus laughed loudly and nodded. They went their separate ways, and Natsu noticed right away when there was enough distance between them, since he couldn't hear his friend's heavy footsteps anymore.

"Are you going to stop talking all together now?"

 _"Well little brother, I though you wanted me to stop"_

"Sometimes you are a bit much to handle… mostly with everyone there, for a moment there I though you were actually gone"

 _"Does that mean you missed me?"_ Natsu snorted in annoyance and turned his face away "Don't push your luck…"

 _"I told you… I'm never leaving your side again"_

Natsu smiled and kept walking with his brother, he had many questions, but after talking to Laxus he realized he was allowed to miss him and decided to simply walk along Zeref, whether he was real or not, he was there with him.

By the time he got home it was pretty late; he opened the door, and everything was silent; he walked inside and noticed a plate on the table, covered with a lid and a small notepad next to it _-Don't go to bed hungry, your loud stomach wakes me up, Love, Lucy-_

He couldn't help but smile, no matter how much he screwed up, Lucy still loved him for who he was. He started eating his spicy pasta when he remembered there was still much to do; not long ago, he had asked the master to dispose of his possessions if the worse came to happen, and although he knew almost everything would be left for Lucy, it still needed to be put in paper.

"Ok, so this is a no brainer…" he placed his fist above the paper and with determination and messy handwriting he made his last will official.

 _"In the case of my death, expulsion or departure from the Fairy Tail guild, Master Makarov Dreyar will be in charge of executing my last will._

 _Both Lucy Heartfilia and Happy will share possession of the Land that has been bought and paid for over the last decade which papers remain in the master's power"_

"Hmh… that seems official enough… ok so then… the money… I should probably let the Master fill in that portion…" It was true Natsu lived with very little, he didn't pay rent and spent some of his money paying for whatever he broke; however, he saved most of it since he considered its only value came from getting food. His savings were also in the possession of Makarov, Natsu didn't really know how much he had but he though it was a good enough amount to make plans for it.

He wrote up different amounts and names in what he though was a sensitive enough list, he also added to it some items to be given away to some of his friends. Natsu held the paper in front of his face and smiled, it didn't matter how little it was, the sense of taking care of his friends still gave him some peace in the middle of chaos. He ripped the paper off and folded it carefully before putting in his pocket.

He walked to the cabinet and got a flask from the gooey purple liquid Polryusica had made for him; he opened it and gagged from the smell before pinching his nose and gulping it down.

"Ew…Great… 2 more weeks down…" He walked to his room, and when he opened the door the light filtered through and he stood there for a few minutes. Lucy had claimed the right side of the bed, which was usually his; she was on her left side with her right hand holding on to Natsu's pillow, almost as if waiting for him; Happy was sleeping above her head, cuddling against her blond hair.

He couldn't help the mix of love and sadness that invaded his chest, the two most important beings in his life were there, in front of him, sleeping soundly; he wanted to brand the image on his brain, one day he would miss them, and this would be the only image that would bring him peace.

Natsu was careful enough not to wake Lucy, he slid one arm under her neck and the other above her waist before pulling her closer to him; it felt natural, she simply rested her face on his chest and sighed. He brushed the hair off her face and planted a sweet kiss on her forehead before whispering "I Love you to hell and back…" It seemed suitable, while other people would consider the mention of hell creepy and unpleasant, he knew no place was as far or as hard to go to as hell itself, and he for once would be willing to go several times over, just for her.

* * *

Aporia sat on a bubbly bathtub holding a long flute glass filled with amber color liquid, she observed her charge carefully through her orb, just as she had been doing for days. The guilt was eating her up, she was not only torturing him with smokes and mirrors, but her crusade would also get him away for the one he loved the most.

They reminded her too much of two people she knew well, their love so big that had caused them to die a horrible death, one she had not been able to foresee nor avoid and that to this day still caused grieve to her heart; she kept thinking hard _"What if they hadn't met, What if they hadn't loved, What if they hadn't been there, What if… what if… what if"_

It was weird, almost addictive to see Natsu's face and the range of his emotions that, coincidentally were so similar to hers; she felt happy about the prince coming home, and sad about everything he had to go through, but she knew this was no time to waver; this had been a plan developed over centuries and if her experience thought her something it was that love is meant to be taken away, it was safer for both of them this way.

"May I come in?" Nephele stood at the door holding a tray with a glass bottle, another flute glass and a charcoal color hairbrush.

"As if you have to ask" Aporia smiled sweetly at her closest friend, the one who had stood with her through thick and thin. They had been together for centuries since Nephele and Helle were spirits, aging was not a problem for them, as for Aporia she didn't have a curse but a loophole to use through her magic.

Nephele sat on a chair next to the bathtub, took her shoes off and place her feet on the rim "What's on your mind Ria?"

"I was thinking about Nizza…"

"It's good to remember them… I think about Phrixus all he time"

"It's all my fault… I was so blind with hate" Nephele grabbed Aporia's chin with her thumb and index and pulled her to face her "We couldn't have known Ria, you can't blame yourself for what happened"

"Then why do you?"

There was a silent moment between them and Nephele couldn't help for her mind to drift away.

* * *

 _Nephele broke into tears when she heard; even in her deepest darkest thoughts she would have never considered Athamas capable of killing their kids._

 _She felt her heart breaking little by little and her desperation was so deep that rain and thunder filled the sky; it was a rare occasion in which she could cause rain as heavy, but her emotions were running deep within, causing her to pull strength from a place she didn't recognize._

 _She hid in the clouds and searched for the higher powers to ask for help, but what she found was judgment and abandonment. She was not considered a deity, but a spirit made by the hand of one, and therefore the Gods didn't favor her._

 _Nephele cried to her brothers and sisters asking for their understanding, but when they turned in disgust at the endearing term she used for them, she knew that was a lost cause. She called for Aphrodite and Athena, she cried for Themis and her scale of justice, she pleaded to Artemis and her wild beasts, but no one dared to look at her._

 _She was left behind, broken and devastated; the cloud nymph sat on a hill that faced the palace and cried for hours; finally, she stood up and looked at the sky in anger using the same disgust expression her "siblings" had used for her._

 _"I disown you! I! You are useless Gods that are unwilling to help your own charges! You do not deserve the graces which have been given to you!" She spat on the floor and fisted her hands "I will end Athamas and his whore by myself if I have to!"_

 _Everything went quiet, too quiet she though, almost as if everything had stopped around her; Nephele barely heard the footsteps and when she turned the sight that greeted her took her breath away. She hesitated for a second, but her resolution was too big, and she was unwilling to back down._

 _"Are you here to punish me?" The tall well-built man walked closer to her, she never understood how someone that was made for violence and war could have features as soft and handsome as him, but she wouldn't be fooled by his looks, she knew well there had never been a challenge he had refused before "Now, why would I do that?"_

 _She blinked a couple of times before finding her voice which came out a bit colder than she intended to "Well, you are made for violence… are you not?" He smiled at her, and his smile reminded her of her son so much "Of course I am sister, what is a God of war good for, if not fighting"_

 _"Sister?" he nodded "One thing I've learnt sister, is that in pain and hate we are all equal… everyone dies and sacrifices in war, and in that way, we are not different, except for the fact that we can die a thousand deaths and come back… but that doesn't take the pain away, does it?"_

 _Ares saw Nephele's expression and knew she didn't believe him "The Gods abandon their people, and then the people abandon their Gods Nephele… what they" he pointed to the sky "don't understand is the basic concept… how will they be Gods if there's no one around to worship them? No one alive to tell their stories" he sat on the floor and patted the grass next to him asking her to sit, which she did "You see that's why I have nothing to worry… because war will always be around us"_

 _The Cloud nymph cried again and when she tried to clean her face, the God of war and violence held her hands in the softest way and brought her closer to him in a brotherly hug "Don't cry Ele…I'll help you"_

 _"Why?..." he nodded and pushed her to see her face "Not out of the goodness of my heart… not entirely… I'll help you because you are willing to go to war for love, most people do it for hate… also I thrive on war, but that greedy woman has caused more than enough lives to be lost"_

 _"What will it cost me?" Ares didn't flinch, but he nodded once more "I know the favors from the Gods don't come for free… brother"_

 _"You know when I knew you were really my sister?" he looked at her and smiled "When I noticed how your kid looked like me, weird… I have plenty of children and none of them resemble me as much as yours, cute kids really"_

 _"Didn't take you for the emotional type" Nephele returned his smile but notice his frown got darker "Ele, I said I would save your kids, and I will… but they will be mine after that" She was confused but with her current limitations she was willing to do whatever it took "I don't care…"_

 _"Listen…" she shook her head "I don't care if they are yours, or mine, or anyone else's as long as they are alive… please"_

 _"You won't see them again, they'll become the world's champions, do you understand that? My mortal children don't live long sister, but their stories are told for centuries, they'll live on in a way the Gods can't…"_

 _"What if they don't do what you expect?"_

 _"I thought by now you would know that our kids have a tendency to get in trouble… the beasts and demons smell their blood from the distance"_

 _Nephele was scared, but she thought the deal was as good as it was going to get. She could surrender her kids to her brother and watch from the distance or let them die the next day without experiencing a full life._

 _"Whatever it takes brother" Ares reached under his tunic and got something out before carefully placing it on his sister's hands. A two-inch shiny red stone "This is the Ruby of Mars, I want you to stand on this very hill and whisper their names to it; raise it to the sky when the sun is at its highest"_

 _"Ok… can I ask why you want them?" He smiled again and shrug "I would have expected you to ask sooner Ele. It's a rumor really… supposedly Apollo saw it and I think that may be why no one wanted to help you"_

 _Nephele frowned and scrunched her nose before he proceeded "Children born in between land and stars, unbound by time and tight together by destiny… strong enough to balance the scales against the Gods if they chose to. A man that rises from the fire of Hell itself, and a woman with the power to make the sky explode and a heart to fit the world"_

 _"Helle and Phrixus" he nodded and stood up before ruffling her hair "Well I guess I should go. You can still back out of this… but…"_

 _"I won't" Ares walked a couple of steps before fading away, leaving Nephele alone with her thoughts._

 _It was a long sleepless night for her; she thought about the consequences of not completing her end of the deal and reassured herself that it was worth it, no matter how much time they got, it was better than no time at all._

 _She stood at noon on the very hill where the one she now called brother offered her a lifeboat, she squeezed the Ruby of Mars on her shaky hands and got it closer to her lips, she kissed one of its sides and whispered to it "Phrixus and Helle" as soon as she said the words her eyes watered and tears started dripping down her face; she raised her hands to the sky and tried to drown her sobs._

 _She kept her hands there, letting the sun bathe the precious stone when a couple explosions caught her eye, the Kings men were clinging swords and gutting their own comrades opening a path towards the castle's main entrance. Nephele didn't understand what was happening but before she could react, the stone shone its brightest towards the sky opening a red and golden path that looked like it was raining fire._

 _She dropped the stone and ran towards the castle, desperately looking for a cloud to blend in with in the clear sunny sky, but her luck had run out; she looked up and covered the sun with her hand when she saw it, a magnificent being crossing the sky blinding everyone around him, breaking barriers and stone walls on his way in._

 _"Chrysomallus…"_

 _The nymph's face changed in seconds when she saw the golden ram leaving the castle with both of her children riding his back, and in her excitement, she ran back to the hill to get one last look at them; her smile went from ear to ear despite her tears still running free._

 _She tripped on the hill several times and pulled herself up by pulling the grass, all the way to the top; she turned to the sky and looked up still covering the sun with her hand and froze._

 _In the time it took her to get all the way up, the battle had increased its size; the castle guards had mobilized and found their way to the top where the wooden catapults awaited, with dreadful fear she observed one of its projectiles making its way to her children._

 _Although the projectile didn't hit the golden ram it did graze Helle's leg causing her to lose her center, Phrixus held his weight with one hand while he tried to reach his sister with the other, but it was too late, and he was barely a child, his strength was not enough to hold them in place._

 _Nephele saw her only daughter kick and scream while she fell, her screams ending with the hard thud of her small body hitting the water. The agonizing scream that came from her broken heart was heard through the village, but for her… everything stopped again._

* * *

Aporia grabbed her friend's hand and brushed it with her thumb "Hey… you are miles away" Nephele sighed "You really want to know why I blame myself?... because if I had been stronger, I could have taken Athamas down before that terrible woman invaded his mind…" she bit her lip and clenched his hands "Your husband wouldn't have died, my children wouldn't have split, my daughter wouldn't have died… so many things would be different"

"You are right… but if that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have had Nizza… and she wouldn't have met Phrixus. What do you think he would say to you?"

"Oh Ria… That's unfair" Aporia took her hands again and squeezed "Fine… he would say he would do it all over again if it meant falling for Nizza, and having their sons"

"And once Natsu comes home, we will make sure our families get the justice they deserve… Heaven, earth and Hell… they will have no choice but to bow to him"

* * *

Just like every morning for the past few weeks, as soon as light filtered through the window, Natsu's eyes open as if he hadn't been sleeping at all. The concoction he had to take was not only awful, but it also had so many negative effects that he regularly felt as if his body had been ran over by a train; he wouldn't let anyone know, he figured they were carrying enough for him already.

He sat up and looked at Lucy again, she was still sleeping; her thick lips slightly open while her calm soft breathing made her chest rise over and over and that alone caused him to smile; he leaned over and kissed her cheek, then her forehead and her eyes.

"Mhm…"

"Hey Luce… I'm going out for a little while, ok?" She pouted and stretched her arms to wrap them around his neck before pulling him back to bed "Luce, I'm just going to get some workout done ok? I'm getting rusty"

"MHM…Fine…" he smiled and pulled her arms off his neck before she pouted again and demanded a kiss. He laughed a bit before squeezing her cheeks together and kissing her "You are too spoiled" she simply smiled before rolling over, falling back to sleep quickly.

He put on a pair of black long shorts that hung low and made his way outside. He was not at his best, that much he knew, but when he was tired after a 3-mile run his frustration got the best of him.

"Dammit!" he sat on the floor and placed his hands on the back of his head before laying down completely.

 _"You should push a bit harder little brother, I'll help you if you ask nicely"_

"Are you kidding me? Aren't you dead? How am I ever going to hit you?"

 _"Ha! Not that you could… even if you really tried to"_ Natsu turned and saw Zeref's smug face and his blood started boiling in anticipation "Oh Yeah! We'll see about that! I'm all fired up now!"

He stood up quickly and ran after his brother, despite of how tired he felt, the energy rush from a good challenge was always a boost and he found himself going back to his basics, he threw the whole repertory from roundhouse to Axe kicks, Forearm strikes to backfist punches, and double hands strikes, but no matter what he did, he couldn't reach Zeref.

 _"You are getting slow Natsu"_

"SHUT UP! I'm going to beat you to a pulp!"

This continued for a couple of minutes and Natsu was so focused he didn't notice Gajeel coming closer to him.

"I don't think air is a good enough contender, although maybe you just suck so bad by now it may be sufficient"

"Oh, fuck you Gajeel!" Even if Natsu didn't want to acknowledge it, he was out of air and completely spent "OI! Relax princess!"

"Tsk… what are you doing here?" Gajeel tilted his head and rolled his eyes "Obviously on my way to the guild, we have training today"

They both knew, that was the biggest exchange of information they could have about the topic; a sudden smirk made its way to Natsu's face, since he couldn't talk about that he decided to make a change of topic and to annoy Gajeel at the same time.

"You should marry Levy soon, before she changes her mind"

"I'll marry her whenever I want to!" It was Natsu's turn to roll his eyes "I'm just saying, you never know what tomorrow may bring, so you should just marry her"

"Well under that note, then why don't you marry Bunny girl!?" the second he finished his sentence he saw Natsu shut his eyes and he knew it had been the wrong comment "Geez Salamander… chill a bit would you"

"Nah… I won't until this" he pointed as the contraption on his neck "is over; just in case I'm not around for long enough, I wouldn't want to make a promise like that" He smiled and turned around "Anyways! Good luck with training, don't let Erza kick your ass"

Gajeel started walking towards the guild, but his mind kept going over the conversation he had had with Natsu; he was right… no one could assure he would pass those 6 months, and he was still sure there were many things Natsu was hiding.

Without noticing he found himself at the big wooden doors; he pushed them and walked to his usual table without his mandatory visit to the bar; Levy spotted him from across the room and rushed to his side.

"Earth to Gajeel" he turned quickly and smiled "Hey Shrimp… what's up"

"What's up with me? You are thinking so hard I am scared that your head is going to explode; I won't allow that to happen before you marry me" she smiled sweetly at him and his iron heart melted for a second before he cleared his throat.

"Actually, I was thinking about that" Levy narrowed her eyes "Are you having second thoughts Gajeel Redfox?!"

"GEEZ SHRIMP… not at all; I was thinking we should… you know speed things up a bit"

"Mira will kill you if she doesn't get to plan it the way she wants it, you know that"

"I'll deal with the she-devil… I…" Levy sat closer to him and tried to figure out what was on his mind, she knew nothing good came from pressing Gajeel.

"I think things have been shitty for everyone, so, it's a good moment to do that" Levy scrunched her nose "and?" he rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat before telling her everything about his small conversation with Natsu.

"So… you want to make sure both Lucy and Natsu are together for our wedding? Aw… that's sweet"

"THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAID… I just don't want a depressive bunny ruining the day for you if Salamander bites the dust…" Levy giggled "Sure… that's what you meant. So, how soon?"

"I don't know… two or tree weeks maybe?" Levy nodded "Fine, but you are telling Mira"

Gajeel would never admit to it, but it was important for all his friends to be there, he hadn't had a family since his father had left and these rowdy, crazy, annoying and loud people were the only family he had ever chosen.

He walked to the bar and sat facing "The Demon" MiraJane Strauss; she was smiling as usual drying a clean mug with a rag and lighting the room with her regular demeanor.

"Ahem… Hey Mira"

"What can I do for you Gajeel?" he hesitated for a second and turned around about to change his mind, but immediately spotted Levy watching him like a hawk with her arms crossed above her chest "Tsk… fine… so, about the wedding…"

Mira placed the mug on the counter with a bit more strength than necessary and smiled "What about the wedding… Gajeel?"

"I was thinking we could, you know rush things up a bit…" a few seconds of silence, the dragon slayer could hear every single heartbeat at the guild as he waited for Mira to reply. It took a couple more seconds but suddenly Mira held his hands with tears in her eyes "Oh by Mavis! Of course! How soon should we do it? Of course, we need to make sure she fits her dress, we can't wait too long! How soon do you want me to pull this off?"

"Ahem… I was thinking about two or three weeks maybe?" Mira was shedding tears and rambling about stuff Gajeel couldn't really understand when the next words out of her mouth made everything suddenly click "I would love you be the Godmother! I mean I know Lucy is her best friend but just think about it ok?" and just like that… she was gone.

"What the… oh…" He felt a pair of small arms on his waist squeezing him "So, I assume things went well?"

"Hey Shrimp, well… yeah I guess, kind of"

"So, will she do it?" Gajeel gulped, Levy would totally freak out and he was really not in the mood for that argument right now, so he did what he thought was best for him at the moment "Yeah, she will"

"Hey Gajeel! We need to go, they are waiting for us!" Laxus yelled from the guild doors with an annoyed expression. The Iron Dragon Slayer kissed his mate goodbye before rushing towards the door "Chill Sparky… I'm here"

"For now, you are royally fucked… and don't call me Sparky, Metal breath" Gajeel rolled his eyes and waved his hand "It was a misunderstanding, I'm sure Levy will laugh about it after she cools off"

Laxus' deep laughed resonated around them "You are an idiot… I for once know Levy won't laugh about everyone in the guild thinking she's pregnant"

"What do you mean everyone? The only one who thinks that is…"

"Mira… yeah that's not going to be a secret for long, I know my girl. Also… you should be more worried about her than Levy"

"How so?" Gajeel was starting to get a little nervous about this "You just promised her a baby, so, either you beg for mercy and hope she is forgiving, or you give her a baby; I f I were you I would start considering adoption... I'm just saying… she can be scary if she wants to"

"You are taking this out of proportion asshole…" Laxus simply smirked "Sure I am…" they finally arrived at the training grounds that had been assigned to them that morning. Waiting for them were Gildarts who had been assigned to supervise and lead, along with Wendy, Erza, Lucy, Gray and Juvia.

"It took you long enough!"

"We were occupied Gild… can we just get this over with?"

The Crash mage frowned and huffed "You idiots will be the last line of defense, so you need to be ready for it"

"Am… w-why the last line?" Wendy looked down and held her hands to her back as she usually did "Because… we would like to stop him without harming him and if he gets to you, that won't be a possibility" he noticed the group staring at him and sighed "He is incredibly strong when conscious, imagine what he would do if he is complete out of it… he wouldn't want to hurt someone so it is up to us"

"Why us together?" Lucy knew there had to be a reason for such a large group "It's simple really… The Slayers should be able to hold him back and take his hits without extreme damage, Juvia and Gray complement each other's magic and enhance it, Erza and Gray have known him since forever and know all his moves, and you…" he looked the other way and cleared his throat "You are strong and capable"

"And?..." he took a deep breath "And… we hope his instinct will command him not to hurt you…" she bit her lip and stayed quiet. The training went as one would expect with Fairy Tail, but throughout the entire time she couldn't stop thinking… she was stronger than they gave her credit for, more reliable and capable, was she not?

Lucy had always been insecure about her own power, regularly thinking she was an additional weight for Natsu, but every single time she though that, he would set her straight. He commonly said he wouldn't have done all the things he did without her, or won as many battles, he would remind her that he needed her on his team since day one and that usually made her feel better… but today, she felt like a shield.

Yes, a shield was important, but it was not firepower, it was meant to protect but not attack to guard but not fight; a shield from Natsu that was meant to appeal to his emotional self and not to stop what was hurting him and she wanted to stop it more than she wanted to breathe.

"Pay attention!" She had lost concentration and was in the middle of training, she instinctively jumped with incredible grace and backflipped her way out of the upcoming attack from Laxus. She wasn't thinking anymore, she allowed her body to take over and pulled two keys out of her pouch.

In the blink of an eye both Loki and Virgo appeared by her side, him smiling from ear to ear and adjusting his glasses, while Virgo wore her blank expression.

"About time Princess…"

"Lucy! What are you doing! This ain't the plan!" Gray tried scolding her, but he soon knew that wouldn't help at all.

"Star dress…" light radiated from her revealing her new attire, different from what they've seen before. It had the same corset shape, bell sleeves and open skirt than her Leo form, however there were minor variations; instead of the golden fabric around her hips she wore a set of thick golden chains, along with her usual Virgo headpiece and necklace.

It was noticeable she had Virgo's sign on her shoulder, and Loke's above her breast; while the rest of her training team was baffled by the sudden action, Gajeel smirked and took the lead by running towards her to attack.

"It's on Bunny girl!" he placed his hands on his mouth "Iron Dragon's Roar!" a tornado of sharp shards was immediately released towards Lucy, but once it dissipated, there was nothing but empty space. Lucy emerged from the floor next to him and jumped.

"Regulus Lucy kick!" she landed her hit on the back of his head and threw him more than a few feet ahead where Loke was already waiting "Regulus Impact!" he flew the other way and turned too late once he heard "Spica Lock!" he was locked inside the rock made prison for a couple of seconds before he was able to break free.

Gajeel was trying to catch his breath, he cleaned his mouth with the back of his hand and took a fighting stance before Gildarts stood in between him and Lucy "Both of you! Stop… Lucy!?"

She closed both celestial doors and put her keys away "I've earned my right to be in this team, and I'm more than capable of facing whoever you need me to face… I'll be both shield and sword if I need to"

"I did not mean…"

"You did not mean what? You realize I have much more to lose than any of you, right?" Gildarts face changed, his stern and cold expression taking over "He is like a son to me"

"And he is my mate! If he dies, I'll follow, if he goes to hell I'll go after him! Do you understand that? He is in this situation because of me…" All eyes were on her; she bit her lip and balled her hands "I need him to stay with me, if it comes to the point where we need to hurt him… I'll do it"

Erza shook her head and walked towards her friend "You can't…" Lucy shoed her with one hand " **You** can't… as I said… If he dies, I will follow… you won't be touch him knowing you could easily take both of us down; not only that, but he won't let you touch me either… he will always protect me, no matter how far gone he is"

There was a moment in which everyone tried looking for the answer around them, she was right, Natsu had killed for her, he had willingly put himself in a position where he would lose his soul to darkness, so she would be safe, and this was not the first time he did something crazy to protect her.

"Ok… then what's the plan Blondie?"

* * *

Lucy was completely exhausted, her feet hurt, there was a burning feeling on her legs and her arms felt nonexistent; in the distance she could see the lights were on, which meant Natsu was there, she smiled and tried to rush her pace as much as possible in her current condition.

Once she was close enough, she noticed all the surrounding area of the house was a mess, loads of different stuff were laying around and she sighed internally; of course, he was bored and alone and had found something to do that required to break stuff.

"Ugh he is like a small child! At least he could pick stuff up!" She stomped her way inside the house "Natsu!" he poked his head out of the kitchen with a big smile "Luce! I'm glad you are home!"

"What the hell is all that outside of the house?"

"Oh, well that..." she raised her hands in exasperation "Really Natsu! You've done a good job with the house in comparison, but could you not leave everything outside!?"

"Luce… can I"

"One day! I left you alone for one day!"

"Are you done?" she gave him an annoyed expression and sat on one of the tall chairs from the kitchen "Ok… that "stuff" outside is construction material that Happy and I picked, and that I had asked to be shipped here, so I can't bring it inside" Lucy looked to the side in embarrassment and was about to speak but he pressed his finger against her lips "I haven't done a good job "in comparison", the house looks great and you know it" she pouted and attempted to speak again but he kept pressing his finger to her mouth "And it was a long day without you, I missed you… can you please tell me why are you so upset about?"

"I can't…"

"Ah… so it's about the training then, well… is there something I can do to make you feel better?" he gave her his big smile, and honest one this time and her heart was flooded with all the love she felt for him.

"You kind of already did" she stretched her arms above her head "My everything hurts" he laughed and picked her up from the chair and laid her on the couch. Natsu removed both her boots and grabbed one of her feet with both hands before rubbing it softly "That feels nice… I could get used to that"

"I'm telling you… you are becoming spoiled…" she pushed her foot on his chest and giggled "If I was spoiled, I would have a sandwich and a tea made by my exceptionally handsome boyfriend "

He rolled his eyes and smiled at her "That's… a cheap shot… but I'll take it" he left for the kitchen while she rested for a bit and came back with a plate full of sandwiches and two cups of tea.

"Why so many sandwiches?" he snorted "Like you are eating without me, hell nah Luce" they ate and talk about anything but her training, once they finished, she left her plate on the table and crawled to his lap, he cradled her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"You smell nice…" he laughed and kissed her forehead "Well I had to take a shower, I figured you would nag me if I went to bed without it"

"You are damn right I would…" Natsu lifted her up startling her "What are you doing!?"

"If I'm forced to take a shower, then so are you… let's go princess"

"Natsu! I don't wanna…" He kept walking towards the bathroom without caring for her complains and before she knew it, she was sitting down on a cabinet. He turned the water on and turned her way "Tomorrow you may need to take a shower at the guild, this one may not work" she frowned while jumping down from her spot "Why?"

Natsu smiled and grabbed her by the hips "Arms up Luce" she rolled her eyes but followed his lead and raised her arms while he removed her shirt "Because I'm tearing down that wall tomorrow and a couple more… probably"

"Again… why?" he shook his head "Geez Luce… there's construction material outside… why do you think that is?"

"Aren't you better at breaking than building?" he huffed "Of course! But I did build this house by myself, well… with Happy, also how many times do you think gramps has forced us to rebuild the guild walls we break? how many times have we had to rebuild the entire guild? I learned a thing or two on the way"

"Right, but why this room?" he gave her a toothy grin "Well a bathtub won't fit in this room if I don't move that wall silly!" her face immediately brighten up and she hugged him tightly "You don't have to" he kissed her forehead again "But… I like you spoiled… I though that was clear by now. Anyways… take your shower and I'll wait for you in bed ok?"

He left to drink his gooey horrible bedtime drink and almost choked on the taste; Natsu went to bed and waited for his mate to join him, it was one of his favorite things in the world… to place an arm under her neck and one above her waist and lay there letting her sweet scent invade his senses; there was nothing like it.

It didn't take long for Lucy to join, she wore a long tank top and nothing more aside from her underwear and she jumped in bed with him "I love you, you know that right?" he nodded and held her tightly. She placed her tight in between his legs and placed a couple of kisses on his neck "Luce… I thought your everything hurt…" she pouted in the most adorable way he had ever seen "It does! But I thought maybe you could kiss the pain away"

"That's too cheesy" she was about to turn away from him, but he grabbed her to kiss the crook of her neck "Oh I thought I was being cheesy!"

He smirked and kissed her neck again "I like cheesy…". Those were their days, where he teased her and made her mad but immediately changed her frown for a smile, where she yelled at him for being irresponsible but as soon as he pouted, she kissed him and made it better. They loved each other too much, and the only thing they could do was hope a love like that was meant to last.

* * *

Gajeel walked to his house with his head high and pretending nothing hurt, although his body protested with every step; no, he wouldn't admit Lucy had become strong, she was spoiled, whiny, loud and too… Lucy.

He could smell Levy from the distance and his heart skipped a bit, that woman could ask him to jump of a bridge to collect her silly bandanna and he would do it gladly. Gajeel slammed the door open with a huge smile on his face.

"OI SHRIMP!" he stood there just blinking, of course there was no need to yell, Levy was sitting on the couch with her arms crossed above her chest, her eyebrow almost all the way to her hair trembling from anger.

"What the fuck is wrong with you! You… you IDIOT!" she did a sad attempt of pushing him, but it was like pushing an iron wall "What the hell Lev? Why are you mad?" she gave him this look, the one that meant if he didn't figure it out by himself things would get ugly pretty quickly.

"Oh… so you **don't** know why I'm mad?" he looked up and scratched his chin and then it hit him "Oh…" she huffed in annoyance and placed her small fists on her hips "Oh?! Is that all you are going to say OH?!"

"Look Shrimp, I'm sorry! When I asked Mira, she kind of assume that we wanted to rush the wedding so you wouldn't have to walk around with a baby bump!"

There was a moment of silence between them and he could see Levy staring back at him with big wide eyes, her mouth slightly open "W-what are you talking about?"

"What do you mean what? What are YOU talking about?" Levy used her solid script and started sending lighting bolts his way before stomping her way to the bedroom and locking the door; throughout all the way she kept screaming "Stupid Gajeel!"

It took about a minute for Gajeel to sit up, he rubbed his face with both hands before pushing his fist on the floor "Dammit Shrimp! That fucking hurts!" he walked to the room and tried to open the door, but it didn't budge.

"Open the door Levy" when she didn't reply, he took a step back just enough to kick the door open, he started taking impulse when a familiar voice interrupted "What in Mavis' name do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like it?! She locked herself inside the room" Lily raised his eyebrow and replied with a sarcastic tone "Yes Gajeel, I'm sure breaking down the door that she locked to stay away from you will make her less mad…"

"Why am I supposed to do then! That is my room, you know? Does she expect me to sleep on the couch?!" they exchanged looks and after a few seconds of silence Gajeel replied to his own question "Fuck… she expects me to sleep on the couch; well no, this is my house and that's not happening"

"Why don't you give her a couple of minutes, maybe she'll come around to talk to you after she calms down"

"Tsk… fine…" He went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer still mumbling something impossible to understand. He walked by the living room and stretched his hand to reach the top of the tallest shelf there hoping to find the dragon book he had been trying to make sense of for weeks; he tried to feel with his fingers a couple of times before he moved his hand around to find nothing but the shelf itself.

"Shit…"

"Oh… if you are looking for that book, Levy found it about half an hour ago" Gajeel rubbed his face again and stared at Lily "You know… you could have told me she was upset about that since the beginning…"

"Oh… she is not angry about that" Gajeel pinched the bridge of his nose "Lily… why… is Levy…mad"

"Well, she found the book and I was distracted in the kitchen… and told her you've had it for a couple of weeks, and she asked why you didn't ask her to help you"

"Did you?!" Lily shook his head "I didn't have to, she opened the book and realized what it was about". It took Gajeel another minute, but he walked up to the bedroom door again and knocked as softly as his big rough knuckles allowed him to.

"Lev… look I'm sorry I kept the book from you ok? I know I should have told you and I was going to I just…"

"What?" he smiled at the angry response, he knew she couldn't stay mad at him forever "I told you about the bonding and you were too amazing, and I ended up asking you to marry me, the book wasn't that much of a priority after that" the silence at the other end was nerve wrecking, but after some time he heard her light footsteps and the click from the lock.

She opened the door, still pouting "You are an idiot" he ruffled her hair and pulled her towards him in a tight embrace "What's new? You tell me that every five minutes shrimp" she wrapped her small arms around his neck and pulled herself up before he placed his hands on her hips to pulled her up to carry her inside the room.

He laid himself on the bed with Levy on top of him, just resting while she drew circles on his chest "Did you find something interesting on that book Shrimp?"

"Not yet, I barely opened it. It's written in a different language, but I'll be able to figure it out in to time"

"Ok… so, you ain't mad anymore right?"

"I will stop being mad once you tell Mira I am NOT pregnant" Gajeel stayed silent for a few minutes thinking about Laxus' words and hugged Levy tightly "I mean you could be!"

"You idiot… I am not having a baby to stop Mira from killing you…"

"Tsk… FINE… I'll talk to her tomorrow" she smiled on his chest and pulled herself up to kiss his lips tenderly.

She really didn't understand how, but the feeling of closeness had become like fuel to her life; it was surprising for her how a jealous, rude, violent Neanderthal that years before had frightened her to her very core, had come to occupy such an important place in her heart.

* * *

Moonlight filtered through the stained glass window in the office, the scene was the same, a wizard with black hair and clothing attacking on one end, the colors around him were darker somehow, and they got clearer little by little; in the middle of it all there were villages and mages defending the land, and just before reaching the other end a group of Dragons of different colors.

Sitting behind the big dark wooden desk was Shiro Mahotsu, the council's current leader; he brushed his long beard with his fingers while he stared at the story the images told. His door opened, he wasn't startled nor surprised by the firm footsteps making their way through the checkers floor, nor when the chair at the other end was pulled back making a screeching sound from the friction with the floor.

"Remy, how many times do I have to tell you not to drag the chairs?"

"Just one more time, as always"

"I see you returned empty handed" Shiro had a wicked grin plastered on his face "Just as I said you would"

Remy Radoub sat like a child throwing a fit, arms crossed above his chest and an angry pout "I know he used magic! We could just take him down and his useless friends with him"

"My boy, Fairy tail is many things, but useless is not one of them… patience is what you need. Why take them down now if we can still benefit from their existence?"

"We don't need them, we can take our enemies down ourselves Shiro"

"Have you seen them?" Remy huffed in annoyance and turned away from his leader "Our enemies Remy, have… you… seen… them?"

"No, but that doesn't mean…" the council man raised his hand to demand silence "They have been here all the time, unseen for centuries until now, you haven't seen them because they don't want to be seen; our enemies are the creation of Gods and Demons, and are not a thing to take lightly"

"Oh, come on, how would YOU know? It's not like you've seen them" Remy's snarky tone didn't go unnoticed to the older mage "I have"

"But you said…" Remy relaxed his arms and rested his hands on his knees; he balanced his weight to the front waiting for Shiro to explain "I did. Anyways, they won't let us near them and we have not been able to find their hiding place, but they will let their precious prince near, and he will make the best decision for his family, as usual"

"You don't know that"

"If there's one thing I know about his bloodline is that they will always sacrifice themselves in the end"

"I don't think the Dark wizard got the memo" Shiro laughed and shook his head "You are still too naive, the boy we all feared so much sacrificed everything to bring his brother back, his mortality, his soul, his complete humanity"

"So?" The leader rolled his eyes "If Zeref was alive, we wouldn't be able to get rid of Natsu, If Natsu hadn't been saved by Zeref no one would be strong enough to destroy Nihil and its witches, and if they are not destroyed, the council will"

"You speak as if this was all part of a bigger plan Shiro"

"Because it is; they are a tainted branch of a bloodline, one that should not prevail"

"And that deal you made with him?" the councilman took a deep breath and looked at his trusted subordinate "The public deal is bogus, it was just a show for his friends to go back home in peace and to draw the followers in. The deal real deal only comes into effect if he takes Nihil down"

There was a certain tension in the room, despite of Shiro looking calm as usual, his insides were twisting and twirling in anticipation. He had wanted every single one of them dead for so long, and now his dream was at his reach. He had promised his own mother to exterminate them, from both matriarchs of the family to the last of their children.

The healing graces of Apollo himself had kept him alive because of that promise, and he knew well the only way to regain his strength and recover what was his, was to end the bloodline his half brother had left behind after his dead.

How he wished his father had been capable enough to kill both Phrixus and Helle back when he had the chance; so many things would have changed for them if he had; his father the king, wouldn't have died at the hands of the murderous witch, his family wouldn't have lost the throne, and yes, the war would have taken many more lives before ending, but how many wars had his lack of courage caused throughout the centuries that followed?

"Shiro, you can't be sure that he will do it"

"His deal has a deadline, he has 2 more weeks to make it happen"

"And if he doesn't?" He smiled at Remy and waved his hand in disregard "Then we will have to force them out by trying to kill him… darkness can only bring him back so many times"


	29. Chapter 29

**OK! So I tried not to take as long this time, and was able to cut a whole week so I am pleased with that. Hopefully you will enjoy this chapter, it has some drama, some awkward bromance, and some "Well dang..."**

 **-A-**

 **"I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value."**

― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

* * *

"Shiro, you can't be sure that he will do it"

"His deal has a deadline, he has 2 more weeks to make it happen"

"And if he doesn't?" He smiled at Remy and waved his hand in disregard "Then we will have to force them out by trying to kill him… darkness can only bring him back so many times"

* * *

Gajeel covered his face with a pillow to avoid the light that filtered through the now open black thick curtains of his room; he moved his hand to pull Levy closer but found her spot empty; he growled and complained but got up from bed and walked down the stairs still sleepy and groggy, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"OI! Could you not leave the curtains open shrimp?" she took a bite from the toast she held in her hand "How else would I make sure you get out of bed… you are like a bear during winter"

"Well at least let me know you are up…" Gajeel stood next to Levy's chair and snickered "You are so small I though I had crushed you in my sleep shrimp" Levy smacked his bare stomach and scrunched her nose "Stupid Gajeel…" He smiled, pleased with his morning banter and leaned to take a bite from Levy's toast before smiling "Coffee?" Levy pulled him down and gave him a peck on the lips "Kitchen".

He observed her for a bit, her blue curls were a mess that was only contained by an orange headband, she had her legs up on the chair and was wearing one of his T-shirts which made her look even smaller than what she already was "You know, if you are not careful you are going to end up swimming out of that shirt, little shrimp"

Levy didn't turn to face him, she simply took another bite of her toast, and fixed her glasses "Wouldn't you love for that to happen" Gajeel burst into laughter, that was his shrimp all right… small body, big attitude and an even bigger brain.

"Are you two done?" Lily was staring at them "Some of us don't enjoy these displays so early in the morning" Gajeel snorted and kept going to the kitchen "No one is forcing you to watch Lily… why you both up so early?"

"I am always up this early Gajeel, I'm sure you don't believe coffee magically makes itself in the morning"

"Geez you woke up grumpy, here have more magically made coffee" Lily grunted and extended his cup for a refill while Levy giggled and shook her head "I'm checking out the book, and I have training later, so, I decided to get an early start"

"Found anything interesting yet?" she placed her pencil on her bottom lip and hummed "Well, not so much yet, but it really doesn't seem like a book to me, more like a journal"

"Why do you think it's a journal?" Levy shrug "It seems to be that, it has too much personal information, but I haven't been able to translate much, only a few pages"

"Hmm, that's… strange. Anyways… go get ready and I'll walk you to the guild" he kissed the top of her head and took her seat once she was gone. He swiped through some of the pages, made sure he placed a separator where Levy had left off and closed the book. Gajeel took the book and placed it inside Levy's backpack before finishing breakfast and getting ready.

It didn't take long for them to make their way to the guild; they were half way there when they noticed Lucy and Natsu kissing on the side of the road, they were laughing about something and Levy couldn't help but smile too.

"They seem to be doing well"

"Too well if you ask me… it's disgusting" Levy giggled and smacked his arm "I'm sure he would say the same thing about you Black Steel Gajeel" he looked at her and scrunched his nose.

Just when she was about to yell their names, Natsu looked up with a serious face and grabbed Lucy tightly, he seemed to be too alert; they both noticed but said nothing as they got closer to them; Gajeel could see the confused look on his friend's face and squeezed Levy's hand a bit.

"Why don't you walk with Lucy from here, uhm shrimp?" Levy nodded and smiled at him while she rubbed his hand with her thumb.

"Hey Lu! Are you heading to the guild?" Levy smiled despite the weird look on Natsu's face, Lucy noticed too and simply hugged him and placed another kiss on his forehead "You ok?" he took a deep breath and scrounged his nose "Yeah, yeah… I'm sorry" he kept looking at the pair weirdly but eventually he let go of Lucy's hand, so they could walk together.

Natsu and Gajeel stood there watching them leave for a couple of minutes. "What's up with you today Salamander?"

"That has become an everyday question hasn't it?" he smiled although it didn't reach his eyes and sighed "I'm honestly not sure"

"You look like you could use a drink" Natsu stared at him for a couple of seconds "What are you doing?" Gajeel gave him a confused look but said nothing which caused Natsu to continue "It is weird when you are this friendly, you are starting to freak me out man"

"Look, you can go drown in the fucking lake for all I care! It's not like we are friends… tsk… fucking punk"

"You don't owe me Gajeel" he bit the inside of his cheek "I know you feel like you do… but you really don't" Gajeel nodded "Did you tell everyone I helped you take care of that crazy son of a bitch?"

"No, but…" Gajeel took a step forward and shoved Natsu "Did you tell them the only reason I was there was to make sure you killed him?"

"No, of course not…" he shoved him harder this time "Did you… tell them… that I didn't tell you what was happening back home until after the asshole was dead?" Natsu rubbed the back of his neck "As if bringing Levy back wasn't enough, you also lied to everyone when you could have just said the truth … Why didn't you?"

"Because…" Natsu looked up and took a deep breath and Gajeel knew the answer "Because you KNOW at least a few people wouldn't have been surprised of me pulling some shit like that… you may think I don't owe you, but I'm still going to pay you back prick"

"That's the problem! I don't need any more looks of pity than what I already get metal breath!" Gajeel burst into laughter and Natsu's frown deepened while he fisted his hand "I never thought I would get to live to see Salamander over-analyzing something… for fuck's sake man! I offered you a drink because Levy and Lily will be gone for the day, I though maybe I would get to beat the shit out of you a couple of times at least; you deserve none of my pity over-sized lizard"

Natsu remained silent for a couple of minutes and his frown relaxed, he should have known better with Gajeel, he laughed a bit before responding "That would sound great if it wasn't like… 9 am in the morning, and if I didn't need to tear a few walls down and put them back up before Luce gets home and kills me"

"My schedule is free, and breaking a few walls sounds entertaining enough" he smiled daringly "I'm sure I can do it faster than you anyways, you are rusty and an idiot"

"You are on Metal breath! I'll wipe the floor with you!"

* * *

As soon as they put some distance between them and the Dragon Slayers, Levy linked her arm with Lucy's "So, things seem to be going well with you two" Lucy smiled and tilted her head "They are, it… depends on the day really, he is going through a lot"

"About that… what's up with him today?" Lucy shook her head and sighed "I don't know Lev… he was fine and then for some reason he wasn't, I worry about him… that happens a lot lately"

"I know you do… BUT!" Levy squeezed her arm before nudging her on the side "Everything will be fine Lu! This is Natsu we are talking about, when have you ever seen him lose?"

Lucy smiled at her friend, of course, anything Natsu related had to end up in victory, it still worried her; although she had heard him in her head less since he had started voicing his thoughts more, that didn't mean that connection had completely stopped. She had sensed his distress when Levy and Gajeel had gotten closer, and she could almost feel the dragon inside him pushing to take over "Yeah… I guess you are right"

"Well, I'll see you later ok? My turn to train" Levy frowned while saying that. She knew she could fight but the idea of training with her assigned group was both equally exciting and concerning.

Levy walked to the training field where Mira was already expecting the group, she wouldn't be training with them but oversaw the exercise. She looked around and noticed the rest of her team was there, Jet along with the Freed and Evergreen.

"Ok! So how about we start since everyone is here… as you probably figured out, this is a containment unit, we know you can all fight which will come handy, but your job will be to try to hold Natsu down as much as possible"

"What happens if we can't?" Mira sighed "If you can't then the last units will take over… and we are hoping it doesn't get to that, we don't want to hurt him" there was an awkward moment of understanding, and an incredible amount of pressure could be felt in the air; if they failed that would mean one of their closest friends would be given the order to stop an equally close friend by all means necessary, even if it meant killing him.

"Are we thinking runes?" Freed held his stoic face as usual while turning to Mira "Yes, but keep in mind he broke the runes back in the council and we are not sure how that happen"

"Those runes weren't weak, but they were not match for mine… also with Levy's help I think we can figure how to make them even stronger"

"You don't look worried" Mira smiled and tilted her head "I am not… I've held both Natsu and Gajeel before" the eldest Strauss sibling stared at him and her eyes changed, she looked more like her old self than the sweet woman everyone had gotten used to "Freed… out of everyone here I thought you would be wisest…"

"What do you mean?" he didn't change his expression, he had always been proud of the balanced behavior he could display despite the situation; Mira took a few steps toward him and stopped a few inches from his face "Don't let your ego blind you, he is not the kid you locked inside the guild by mistake years ago and today he would break through those dribbles like if they were nothing… you are not trying to hold a young Dragon slayer… you are trying to hold E.N.D himself"

They rest of the group remained quiet while they witnessed the exchange before them "You and Levy can prepare when we finish combat training, everyone will need to have a plan for tomorrow"

"What's tomorrow?" Levy gulped and watched as Mira changed her expression back to her sweet self "Tomorrow we will test your containment at a smaller scale, but it needs to be something you can spread out around the guild, so, be ready for that"

The training was a train wreck, Levy could work with Freed on runes, but when it came to combat, they didn't connect well enough, she could work with Droy, but he got too focused on protecting her to be efficient during battle, and Freed had a good team work with Evergreen but no one else.

After a couple of hours, they all ended up sitting on the floor trying to catch their breaths "Well I hope this teaches you a lesson in humility…" Mira's comment caused different reactions, Levy felt ashamed of herself however it seemed not everyone shared the feeling.

"Oh, come on! We are doing our best, you can't really expect us to give better results while we cover the gaps left by those two over there!" Evergreen was pointing her perfectly manicured finger towards Levy and Droy "That is not polite to say" Freed did a mild attempt of scolding but didn't deny her comment.

Before Mira could get involved Levy stood up and walked towards both members of the Raijinshuu "I actually though you two had changed, how stupid can I be"

"Excuse me!" Evergreen was about to reply when Levy continued her speech "You call yourself a leader and a gentleman and yet you can't even adapt to working with someone else other than your own little club, how sad to have a leader who's incapable of leading" she turned and face Evergreen and clenched her fists "YOU! You won't ever be better than anyone in the guild because your ego keeps you from opening your eyes! GEEZ!"

Droy stood up and patted his clothes to remove the dirt before approaching her "Hey Lev…"

"Mira are we done?" Her anger didn't go away, she kept looking at them with fire in her eyes "For today… yeah we are"

Levy turned around and walked away, Droy following close behind but at enough distance to provide her some space, eventually she stopped in front of the guild and rested her back on the wall waiting for her friend to catch up.

"Levy, don't you think you were a bit harsh?" she was looking at him with a baffled expression and a twitch on her eye "What?! How am I the bad one here?"

Droy shook his head "You are not, but…" he took a deep breath "Saying they hadn't changed a lot after… you know the Laxus' incident was kind of harsh don't you think? They have changed… a lot" she puffed her cheeks and looked the other way "I know they have… but it just made me so angry!"

"Yeah, but you know how ashamed they are of that whole thing, you know they tried to make amends"

"Yeah… dammit! I'll apologize…" Droy simply smiled at Levy and followed her inside the guild. She started looking for her blonde friend when she spotted Erza "Hey! Have you seen Lucy?"

"She left not log ago, I'm sure she is on her way home"

"Dammit, I was hoping to catch her… how about Gajeel?"

Erza scratched her chin "Actually he never showed up"

* * *

Lucy have had a long day since Natsu couldn't be close to the guild until the trainings were done, this was a measurement taken due to his sensitive nose, Makarov didn't want to risk him getting an idea on who was working together; which caused for Lucy to be the one in charge of running errands today.

She had gone to the market for food, did a little shopping for house stuff and herself and went to the guild to check on any news and updates their friends may have had, so, she was beyond tired. She was carrying most of the bags while Happy took a couple smaller bags and flew next to her.

"Hey Lushi… you don't really think we are going to have to fight Natsu, do you?" she was surprised by the question but tried not to show it "I don't think Natsu would ever be able to hurt us Happy, if something happens, we just need to remind him who he is!"

Happy smiled widely and released a breath he didn't know he was holding "Aye!" there was silence for a couple of minutes as they kept walking through the steep road "Hey Lushi, when you and Natsu get married can I hold the rings?"

She went completely pale, and then a second later her face looked like a fresh tomato "Wh-W-Why d-do you t-think we are getting m-married? Did he say something to you?"

"Not really" Happy titled his head and looked up as if thinking "But you are already living with us, and he is fixing the house for you, even adding more rooms than what we need, I though maybe you two would get married and have a baby Natsu and a Baby Lucy" Happy stopped out of nowhere and widen his eyes "Lushi! When you have baby can I play with it?! I promise I'll be the best babysitter and I'll be the best big brother and I'll save the best fish for the baby!"

Lucy's head was still spinning and so she just managed to mumble a bit "S-s-sure". They finally got home and when she opened the door, she could see muddy footprints on the ground from the entrance to the living room "Oh by MAVIS!" she walked inside and left the bags in the kitchen before trying to assess the damage.

They were two different pairs of footprints, she knew which ones were Natsu's and the other seemed to be from big and heavy boots; she walked to the coffee table and found two glasses, and an empty bottle of whiskey "So much for a productive afternoon Natsu…" she took the things from the table and left them on the sink. When she went back to start cleaning up, she noticed the footprints didn't only reach their living room but went into the aisle and she decided to follow them.

The trail stopped in front of the bathroom and when she remembered Natsu had said a few walls would go down today she feared what she would find "Well… let's see what's behind door number one…" she bit her lip and pushed the door open.

She stood there, completely frozen when Happy landed on her head "Whoaaaa Lushi what happened here" she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times "I think Natsu redid the bathroom". There was a note on the mirror with messy handwriting "Don't use until tomorrow, still fresh. Be back soon"

It was noticeable that the wall had been taken down and pushed back, by a lot; the complete room was made up from dark gray stone except for the floor which was a much lighter tone, there was a wide mirror cabinet above the sink and another cabinet under with plenty of space. She brushed her fingers against the stone and continued moving until reaching her new bathtub; it was big, big enough to fit 3 people and it was made in the same material than the rest of the room. The other big difference was the big window on the side of the tub, it led to a wooded area in the back and had a small lever that allowed you to open the small window segments.

"Wow…" She had no words she simply stared, feeling bad for thinking Natsu had done nothing for the day. Happy snickered "And he managed to do all of this without tearing down the house!" the cat put his paw on Lucy's chin "You should close your mouth Lushy!"

She slapped his paw away and smiled "He did an incredible job…" Lucy was taken out of her thoughts by a knock on the door "Coming!"

* * *

Natsu and Gajeel had gone further into the forest to get some training done, of course the black-haired slayer knew better than to use any magic against Natsu, but that didn't mean they couldn't practice a bit.

"You seem less rusty than a few days ago, are you getting used to this no magic thing already?"

"Seems that way, it still sucks, but at least I don't feel like I'm riding a train 24/7" the though made Gajeel feel dizzy "That sounds horrible"

"Anyways, ready for another round or are you too old now to keep going?" Natsu smirked at got himself in position "Old? I'm like 2 years older than you punk!" they resumed their fighting and got lost in the moment as they usually did, their competitiveness had no limits.

Natsu got a few good punches through Gajeel's defense and was feeling proud of himself "I don't need my fire to kick your ass Lighting rod!"

"Who said I needed mine? I'll wipe that smug look off your face!" Gajeel was surprised that Natsu was keeping up despite of his current state but he kept going. He knew the Dire dragon slayer didn't want pity from him, what he needed was someone to keep him on his toes; however, after some time Natsu got distracted and when he turned back, he was hit straight on the jaw, he tumbled back but got up quickly still staring at the direction of his house.

"OI! Don't get distractet moron!" Gajeel started walking towards him and noticed Natsu's left hand had started twitching lightly "Salamander?" he took a couple more steps and stopped when he saw the twitching change to shaking, and before he could continue walking towards him, the fire dragon slayer sprinted back towards the house so quickly that it took Gajeel a full second to react.

"Where the hell are you going! OI! STOP!"

He tried to follow close but for someone not using magic he was moving extremely fast, like an animal in the middle of a hunt and he could only remember how surprised he was by Natsu's speed when they were in the caves with Fukuro.

It scared him, not because he feared the man running before him but because he had seen Natsu in that state and knew exactly how close he had come to losing his mind; the possibility of that happening again stirred something inside of him.

It didn't take long for Gajeel to get hit by the different smells, Lucy was there, it smelled like she was making some sort of tea, and the third smell was something he recognized immediately "Fuck".

* * *

"Coming!" Lucy rushed to open the door and smiled widely when realizing who had stopped by for a visit "Levy! Come in, do you want to have some tea?"

"Hi Lu! Yeah that would be nice" Levy walked inside when he noticed the muddy mess on the floor "Lu w-what happened to the house?"

Lucy rolled her eyes "Natsu decided to do some remodeling" Levy stared at the footprints "Gajeel too by the looks of it" Lucy stared at the floor and shrug "My house was victim to a Dragon Slayer earthquake" both mages giggled and moved to the kitchen.

"Should we worry? I mean they only know how to fight each other and it's kind of late" the script mage laughed "Well they can say they hate their guts all they want, but I know Gajeel is going to ask him, Gray and Lily to be his groomsman"

"Oh! Which reminds me… who are going to be your bridesmaids?" Levy rolled her eyes at her "Are you serious? You already know you are my maid of honor silly!"

"Okay just making sure!" Lucy stuck her tongue out and they both laughed loudly "Lushy! Can I get my fish from the fridge?" She smiled and nodded "Only a little one, wouldn't like you to lose your appetite"

"Aw LU! You are so ready for motherhood!" every single drop of blood in Lucy's body went up to her face "W-why…W-what?!" Levy laughed so hard that her hands went to her stomach and she bend her body in half "I'm just joking, it is too easy to tease you"

Lucy pinched Levy's cheek just as Aquarius used to do to her "I'll make the tea, why don't you put your stuff away?" the celestial mage made her way into the kitchen, Levy simply nodded and walked to the main hall to hang her purse while she rubbed her abused cheek.

It happened too fast for either Levy or Lucy to react; the door was punched so hard that it broke causing small wooden shards to fly into the house. Levy's immediate reaction was to cover her face to avoid getting splinters in her eyes, she heard Lucy scream her name in the middle of the chaos and heard her footsteps getting closer. She pulled her face up but as soon as she did, she was pinned to the wall by Natsu himself.

"N-Natsu?" He wasn't listening to her, she though it seemed as if he couldn't even see her. His eyes were narrowed in confusion and she could clearly see small amber traits on them now that he had been breathing right on her face, he sniffed a couple of times and scrunched his nose.

"Natsu! What are you doing?!" Lucy yelled and started moving towards him when Gajeel came through the door. The Dragon slayers' eyes met before Gajeel punched him causing him to release Levy; he hugged his mate before turning back to see his friend kneeling on the ground holding Levy's purse.

"I'm going to kill you Salamander!" he meant it, he really did but before he moved Levy grabbed his arm to stop him "Tsk… Shrimp…"

Levy simply stared at Natsu, he was fondling with the brooch and once he got it open, he flipped the purse to get everything out; he stared at its contents with a baffled expression and pressed his hand on his forehead. He was breathing rapidly; he stretched his hands to reach out for something and his friends noticed him shaking; Gajeel did another attempt to get closer, this time without the intention to hurt him. He took a small step when he noticed what Natsu was reaching for.

"Salamander…" Natsu's shaking hands grabbed the book Levy had been carrying, he was staring at it with confusion written in his eyes and hesitantly got it closer to his face to smell its cover; he closed his eyes and took a whiff before slamming the book to the opposite side of the wall and pushing himself backwards. He pressed the back of his hand against his mouth and nose and stared at the offensive object on the ground.

No one knew what was happening, or how to react to it and by the time they tried to get closer again Natsu had rushed to the bathroom to throw the contents of his stomach in the toilet.

"Should we go check on him?" Levy was concerned, sure he had scared her, but he was still her friend, Gajeel put an arm around her and shook his head "Not a chance, not until we know what the fuck happened" the tree of them walked to the living room along with Happy and sat down quietly waiting for him to return.

It took more than half an hour, but eventually Natsu came out of the hall and rested his side on the frame; he wouldn't look at them, or the book that still laid on the floor.

"Are you not going to say a thing?" Gajeel almost growled while Levy placed a hand on his leg "What is that… and why do you have it"

"How about you apologize to Levy first moron?" Natsu stared at him, the look he gave was filled with anger, but it was a different type of the one they've seen before, it had regret and disappointment, fear even "No, not until you tell me what that is, why is it here and where you got it from"

Lucy stood up and walked towards him, she grabbed his hand and pressed his knuckles against her plump lips "It's a book I took… from Fukuro's house" Natsu stiffen at the mention of his name "Why would you want to keep anything that is his?" he couldn't help it, his nature was possessive and the last thing he needed was a reminder of a man that was dead by his hand and that almost took everything from him.

"It seems to be about Dragons, so I thought maybe…"

"You thought maybe… you would bring it home and not tell me about it" Levy stared at him with an annoyed expression "Hey they didn't tell me about it either and I got over it! She was trying to help"

"They?" He looked up at Gajeel and scrunched his nose "You knew? Are you kidding me? After what… I did… you didn't think there would be something wrong with it?"

"Oi, it's just a fucking book you little shit!"

"It… It smells like…" Gajeel interrupted him and took a couple of steps his way "Yeah, it smells like Dragon skin, you know the smell well, which still gives you NO excuse to threaten my girl"

He crossed his arms and pressed his fingers on his skin with a bruising strength "I didn't mean to Levy, it's just that…"

 _"You don't have to tell them little brother… they shouldn't have brought that into your house"_ Natsu clenched his fists _"You should burn it, that way that smell will never find you again"_ he rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath before hitting the back of his head against the wall and pointed at the book "That… is not any Dragon smell… I know that smell, I just didn't remember"

Lucy saw the images flashing before her eyes and her heart immediately ached for him; the scene of his parents trying to save him and his brother from a horrible fate, blood splattered on his face while he tried his best to wipe it with his small hands, his parents bodies laying on the floor while he tried to protect his older brother and the Dragon's last attack; she felt a sharp pain on her neck where Natsu had the scar and felt what he felt when the ceiling started falling over him, when Zeref pulled him out and cried at the sight of his younger brother fading away.

"Well numb nuts, which Dragon is it?" Gajeel was losing his patience but before Natsu could respond Lucy was already reaching out to him and wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him into a hug "You are ok… I've got you, it's ok…"

Natsu pulled away, that sentence brought him too much pain "It's not…"

"Can someone please fill in the blanks here?" Natsu took a deep breath and turned to his friend "That… smells like the dragon that killed my parents… and me… technically" the room went silent for a couple of minutes before Levy walked towards him and grabbed his hand "I'm sorry… we didn't know"

"It's not your fault… I am sorry for how I… you know" he turned to Gajeel and noticed he simply nodded, letting him know he accepted his apology "I'll get rid of it right now Natsu, don't worry" before Levy could move, he pulled her hand "Don't… I want to know what it says"

"Why?" he gave a tired smile that didn't reach his eyes "Well… someone killed it and made a book with his skin… and it sure as hell wasn't me"

"Do you think Zeref got to him?" he was surprised when his brother's name left her mouth without an inch of disgust, he turned to the image of his brother who shook his head _"I never found him, I would have done worse"_

"I don't think he did, but I can't be sure" they all knew what he meant, they knew now that he'd been listening to his death brother for some time, however no one could tell if it was part of his imagination or if the Dark wizard had found a way to remain hidden from the world.

 _"Nothing good will come out of that book little brother, you need to burn it down"_ he shook his head trying to keep his focus but Zeref would stay quiet.

 _"Get rid of it"_

 _"Burn it"_

 _"Destroy it"_

 _"Come on brother, you'll feel so much better after"_

Natsu slammed his head on the wall harder this time "Stop it!" he slid from the wall and sat himself on the floor when he felt someone sitting next to him, he was surprised that Gajeel would do something like that and so he didn't comment on it.

"Tell the motherfucking invisible dead twit that you are done listening to his bullshit, and that your…" he cleared his throat and looked away "friends… got you"

Lucy sat down to the other side of Natsu along with Happy and rested her chin on his shoulder before grabbing his hand, while Levy simply sat in between Gajeel's legs and rested her arm on Natsu's leg.

Natsu sniffed a bit and looked straight at his brother trying to hold his tears, he was dead, he knew this, this thing standing in front of him couldn't be him and even if it was… he wasn't the brother he remembered, that man had died along with him four centuries ago.

 _"Natsu… don't listen to them, I only want what's best for you, I always have"_

He bit his lip and took a deep breath "You heard the man… brother… you need to go"

 _"They are just trying to pull us apart little brother, don't listen to them"_

"I want you to go… now" it took a couple more seconds, but the image started to get blurry until his brother was not there anymore. He turned and kissed Lucy's head before elbowing Gajeel's ribs "Didn't you say we weren't friends? You are getting soft"

"Tsk… Fucking punk… I'm not the one sniffing and tearing" after a couple awkward minutes Natsu cleared his throat "Ok…so… drinks anyone?" Gajeel simply nodded and got up picking Levy up with him.

* * *

Aporia kept rubbing circles on her temples while mumbling to herself, Nephele stood next to her while Helle sat on the floor with a childish pout.

"So, what now aunty?" Nephele knelt and grabbed Aporia's hand "Ria… we need to come up with something fast, he won't come to us if they remain by his side"

"One would think they would have gotten tired of all the craziness already… who are these people?" Helle rested her head on her knees "His family…" she sniffed while a few tears fell on the floor "family takes care of family aunty… we should know that better than anyone"

Aporia sighed, she brushed Helle's pink-gray hair "Their bond runs deep, we'll need to figure something out to bring him in"

"Can't we just simply tell him the truth? If we tell him he can bring that… girl, and his friends with him, maybe he'll say yes" Aporia smiled and grabbed the nymph's chin between her thumb and index "If only it was that easy dearie"

"It seems simple" Her eyes were filled with tears and Aporia couldn't blame her, she hated herself for doing this to him, he didn't deserve it, but after her long wait there was no way she was going to back down now; she had sacrificed too much, done too much wrong in order to avenge her family.

Nephele sat on the floor next to her daughter and held her hands "Well… when he comes to us there are many things that will need to happen; that Celestial mage keeps him grounded, she's light when he faces dark and if she comes with him… he won't be able to do what he needs to do baby, she won't let him"

"It sounds like she makes him stronger" Nephele nodded "She does… but not only is she his weakness, we also need for his darkness to be even darker than the one he will fight, her light makes him too forgiving"

Aporia simply sat looking at the ceiling, trying to figure out what her next move would be "So… I won't be able to use the image of his brother anymore, and I don't think he has someone else that we could use…"

"How about his Dragon?" she shook her head, "that would take too much energy to create and maintain, and Natsu would probably end up figuring out that he isn't real, he may not pay a lot of attention to details, but he knew his Dragon too well" she took a deep breath and rubbed her face "I think Helle is going to get her do over after all… It's time for a little honesty"

Both nymphs stared at each other before looking back at their leader "But aunty! If I mess up again…"

"Then simply don't mess up child"

* * *

It had been a weird day, after Natsu almost attacked Levy the group had resorted to drinking and chatting and although there was a certain awkwardness between both Dragon Slayers now, they enjoyed listening to their mates talk and giggle.

The girls' rosy cheeks were a clear sign of their state which made the boys flinch, they've had to handle them in that state a couple of times and it had proven time and time again to be an awful task. Levy jumped Gajeel and wrapped her arms around his neck before resting her body princess style.

"Gajeel! Your hair is so soft!" she grabbed a handful of his hair and nuzzled it; he simply sighed. Lucy grabbed Natsu and carelessly pulled his head to her breasts "Natsu's hair is super soft too! And so pink"

"OI! We've been over this! It is SALMON, salmon! Not pink!" she giggled and brushed his hair "Ok, ok, whatever you say "You are such a weirdo Luce…"

Gajeel grunted from his place "Says the one with the pink hair and the sharp teeth" Natsu pulled himself off before pointing a finger at him "Your teeth are also sharp nuts and bolts!" they were about to start fighting when Happy's sleepy voice echoed from the other couch "Oh could you just agree you like each other! And could you shut up! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Both slayers looked at Happy raising a twitching eyebrow "I DO NOT LIKE METAL IDIOT! Seriously what's is wrong with you Happy!" the blue exceed fell back on the couch and placed a paw above his eyes "Yes you do… and you like Gray too! And I was right all those times when I said you loved Lucy!"

Levy sat up on Gajeel's lap "Yes! They do! So much Gajeel wanted them to be his groomsman!" The Iron slayer's face went red while he pressed a hand of Levy's mouth "Oi Shrimp! Shut it!"

"Awwww that's super cute!" Lucy had placed a hand on each side of her face when Natsu covered her mouth too "Geez Luce! I think it's bedtime for you"

"For both of them!" Gajeel picked Levy up and dropped her on his shoulder while she pouted. He cleared his throat and turned to look at Natsu who was avoiding his stare "So… we'll see you around" Natsu got up to follow them to the door but held it open once Gajeel and Levy were outside.

"Just for the record… It wouldn't kill me to do that… as a favor to your sorry ass that is" Gajeel grunted "Fucking punk… I hate your guts"

"Right back at you numbnuts"

"You are going to need a suit, I don't want you showing up on your regular stupid clothes"

"And here I though you would get married with your black coat and combat boots… geez Gajeel…" they shared a smirk before Gajeel turned on his heel and carried Levy back to his house. Natsu closed the door and went back to the couch where Lucy was already sleeping.

He picked her up princess style and placed Happy on her belly before carrying both to the bedroom and laying them on bed. He brushed the hair of her face and stared at her just wondering how had he become so lucky.

Still, he wondered… the problem that had been in his mind for some time now was getting closer every day and there was no way around it, he couldn't help but remember the big office with the stain glass window.

 _"As the leader of the council they will follow my lead, I told them I wanted to give you an option… I know this will only lead to more destruction on your behalf and we wouldn't want that, would we?"_

 _"You can't even imagine… destruction is a term you know nothing about"_

 _"If you take that path, there's nothing we can do about it. Please keep in mind that even if you get rid of the council the name Fairy Tail would be tainted in blood, there wouldn't be a place for anyone to go back to"_

 _Natsu felt a sharp pain on his chest; Fairy Tail was home not only for him, but to all of them "What do you want?"_

 _"I want to cut a deal with you… but before we proceed, I need your promise that this information won't leave the premises; what's it going to be Mr. Dragneel?"_

 _Natsu walked to the chair and sat down before nodding to Shiro "I'm listening"_

 _"Very well" Shiro straightened himself and rested his elbows on the table "There's a group of people that have tried to reach out to you before, they claim to be your brother's remaining followers"_

 _"There are many groups like that…" Shiro smiled to himself "Indeed they are… The one that I speak off will surely try to reach you again as soon as they realize you are under the council's thumb"_

 _"I don't want this to be of public record, it will damage the guild" The councilman waved his hand dismissing his comment "It won't, leave it to me for them to find out"_

 _"Ok, so… what do you want with them?"_

 _"To destroy them… and all their kind…" Natsu laughed and shook his head "Good, tell me where they are, and I'll pay them a visit"_

 _"That's not how this works child… you will go with them willingly, they will make you their beloved leader and all of the rest of those who adored your monstrous brother will follow and then we will take the opportunity to destroy them"_

 _"Ok, so how long do you think that will take? I know my team and they won't rest until they find me and bring me home" Shiro gave him a look, one that meant he wasn't quite done "We will have to give them a reason not to follow you then"_

 _Natsu was not comfortable with it, and he wasn't sure there was something he could do to stop his friends from following him, after all, Fairy tail had proven time and time again that they would never leave family behind "Still… how long before I can go home…"_

 _"Oh child… Once they crown you, they will become a part of you, a dark blood bond will be in place… you can kill one or two subordinates to prove yourself, but as soon as you finish them all… your own magic will consume you"_

 _Natsu widen his eyes and stared back at the councilman with shock, he had been ready to give everything up, and just now he had let a small amount of hope to permeate through his pain before darkness and reality killed it._

 _"So… if I do this, I will die"_

 _"But they wouldn't, they would receive full protection… permanently, pardons of course, Makarov would stay in place and your beautiful home would remain a home for everyone who has no place in the world… like you claim it to be now"_

 _"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" Shiro took a deep breath and Natsu could see something similar to pity in them "You should want to do this… I know there's much you don't remember, but this people… they are responsible for every single bad thing that has happened to your family"_

 _"I highly doubt that… everyone is responsible for their own actions old man"_

 _"They are… and their actions were what caused your family's decay… including your death. I have a file on that… would you like to see it?" Shiro opened his drawer and got an old brown thick folder and dropped it on his desk before staring back at Natsu._

 _He consider it, the fire dragon slayer was curious by nature, but he had decided long ago that the life he didn't remember wasn't his… his life was the one he build with Igneel, the one with his family back in he guild and he didn't need to know the details of a story that for him was way before his time._

 _"I'll pass…"_

Back in that moment, Natsu had accepted of course, he would have done anything to protect his family mostly after knowing they faced backlash for something he had done. He had never been burnt by fire but knowing that his own power… the one he had been nourishing and increasing would burn him to death, knowing that would be the one and only time he would feel the fire burn his skin… didn't scare him.

That was back then, back when he had made his resolve to stay away from Lucy, back when he had decided to put some distance between him and his friends to maybe, just maybe reduce the heartbreak a bit… back when him dying didn't mean Lucy would succumb to death because his heart wasn't beating.

He couldn't do it, he wouldn't be able to let her die; would she feel him burning himself to ashes? Will she feel the pain of his skin sizzling and melting off his bones? No… she wouldn't because he wouldn't let it happen. Natsu didn't know how, but he had to find a way to spare her from that fate.

He did his usual routine, went to the kitchen and pinched his nose before picking that awful gooey liquid and did his best to pass it without tasting it; he had some water to wash the taste away and went back to bed where he cradled Lucy while brushing her golden hair with her fingers, she felt so warm that he could feel himself melting in her love.

Sleeping was automatic for him, like every night he closed his eyes and saw nothing but emptiness; then it seemed after five minutes he was forced to face morning. He hated it, for someone who loved sleeping so much being forced to face empty space behind his eyelids like one of those creepy dolls that would automatically close their fake plastic eyes when laying down and opening them once you sat them up… it was horrible; but then again… it was still better than the nightmares that had stalked his dreams ever since he met Fukuro, because even after his dead, what he had seen couldn't stop haunting him,

He sat up and knelt on bed before showering Lucy with kisses "Luce" kiss, "Luce" kiss, "Lusheee" kiss kiss kiss "Geez! I'm awake! WHYYYY AM I AWAKE!"

Natsu pouted "Because you are going training again today and I wanted to spend some time with you" she all but growled before he started kissing her again and tickling her sides "Fine! Fine!" she smiled and pulled him for another kiss "Breakfast it is then!"

They made blueberry pancakes and tea and woke Happy up for breakfast, the blue cat rubbed his belly and sighed "Woaah that was good, your cooking is getting better Lushy!"

"My cooking has always been great!" the cat snickered "Sure, probably that's why you gained so much weight!"

"I DID NOT GAIN WEIGHT, STUPID CAT!"

"Naaaatsuuuu! Lucy wants to have cat for dessert! Help me!" Happy flew and hid behind Natsu who simply laughed at his antics "Now Happy, that's no way to thank Lucy for breakfast is it?" Happy rolled his eyes "Thank you Lushy!"

"That's much better"

He walked with them to the point where he would part with them, anything beyond that and he might start recognizing scents from his friends ruining the secrecy of the trainings. Natsu kissed Lucy while Happy snickered, even after seeing them several times the blue exceed would still tease them for their closeness.

Natsu went back home and continued with the task of rebuilding the house, he had started working on the stairs to what would be the second floor, and the structure from above by reinforcing the ceiling itself first and we was hoping to at least finish the outer shell by the end of the day; as it turns out, being someone like him being forced to doing nothing was incentive enough to find something to do.

Just as he had planned, he finished the access to the second story and after adapting some of his initial plan after remembering he hadn't plan for windows the structure and shell of the second floor were mostly completed, of course rooms and separations had to be added along with doors and windows.

He had decided to take a break when he smelled rain coming; he secured the holes where the windows would be with some plastic and went downstairs to the kitchen to make himself something to eat.

"OK… so there's some spicy chicken left… some pasta… sounds like a plan" he made as many sandwiches as his plate could hold and made some tea before sitting back on the table; small water drops fell on the house walls and he knew it has been a good idea to secure the windows.

He was wrapped up in his thoughts when a familiar sound made its way to his sensitive ears…

 _I lost my way and walked alone, into a path where nothing grew,_

 _I was so scared to never find, the light to guide me by your side,_

 _The dark clouds and thunder ripped through the sky,_

 _Light and dark bringing shadow shape images alive._

He knew the voice, there was no chance of confusing her with someone else. Natsu stood up and left his house to run towards the last place he had seen her. The rain hit his face, but he didn't care, he had to get a plan "B" maybe even a "C" and he wasn't sure if he would get the opportunity back.

 _I should have known you'd find me there, to hold my hand and make me safe,_

 _You are my home, my friend my life, the one to always bring back my smile,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, together we will always push it away,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, we'll light the path and make our way,_

The voice started getting lower and lower until it was just a whisper and he tried to run even faster now, desperation setting in sending more energy towards his limbs and letting him take advantage of his speed. He hadn't been able to tap into the speed he had used the day before on his own accord, it had always been something instinctive.

When he got to the lake, he was relieved to see she was not only there but sitting on the place where he had been found before, the tree was gone but, in its place, sat a sad looking water spirit. She looked into his eyes while singing the last verse of the song.

 _Hand in hand we created the light, to defeat the evil that kept us apart,_

 _We walked together creating the path, a trail that would always lead us back,_

 _Because no matter if we are ever alone, when or where we have to go,_

 _We'll walk the trail we made long ago, the one that will always lead us back home_

"Hey…" she barely smiled while she hid her face on her knees "Hey to you too"

"Did… did I hurt you?" she stared at her with disbelief and frowned "What are you talking about?!" he sat next to her and bit the inside of his cheek "You know last time… I don't remember much, did I hurt you?"

Helle grabbed both his hands and took them to her lips "Of course not! I've been so worried… it was all my fault I'm so sorry Natsu!" he simply smiled and shook his head "So… what brings you here?"

"You of course silly, I wanted to see you"

"Why?" she laughed at his face "What do you mean why! You are the single most important person for me! Why would I not want to see you?"

"You don't even know me" she smiled at him "I may not know you but… I know everything there is to know about you. I know you love with all your heart and you hide your pain deep inside… I know your memories are making you confused, and that they hurt every single time… I know you wished you knew your parents' names"

Natsu clenched his fists and looked away, when talking to Shiro he hadn't cared about the fact these people were responsible for his parents' death, but now that his memories were resurfacing, he couldn't help but feel anger rising in the pit of his stomach "Well… I wished they hadn't died" he said it with a bit too much venom in his tongue and Helle noticed.

"None of us did Natsu…" he chuckled painfully "Oh really?... How did they die then?"

"I…d-don't want to talk about it" he stood up and combed his hair "Well though luck kid! You can't expect for me to trust you if you're not willing to tell me stuff"

"You can trust me! I love you!" he turned around and gave her a hateful look "Love? You Love me? People like you are not capable of love! You take away everything!"

"Natsu please!" tears streamed down from her face and along with it the sky rumbled "Prove it to me! Prove that this… love you claim is real then"

"I can't talk about your parents… not yet" he huffed and paced like a caged lion before turning back to face her "Fine… then give me a way out" she looked at him and tilted her head, he couldn't help but notice how much her eyes resembled someone he knew but he disregarded the though quickly.

"I… am going to die Helle" she widen her eyes and opened her mouth to speak but he raised his hand to stop her "I am and I have made my peace with it… one way or the other I'm going to die whether is because your people want me to follow you to then kill me… or because of my past stupidity…"

"I won't let you die…"

"Too many people have made the same promise and I don't believe they will be able to keep it, but if you give me a way to save her… I promise I'll blindly believe anything you want me to"

"Your mate..." she scrunched her nose and he moved his hands frantically "YES, my mate… whom else would I want to spare from my death?"

She took a deep breath and hoped she was making the right choice. She reached out to her pocket and took out a beautiful red stone, the same one her mother had used and that she kept as a reminder that even wishes made with the best intentions could backfire; the stone was now attached to a golden chain and base that held the stone in the middle.

"This…" She bit her lip before handing it to him "You can't use it lightly"

"What is it?" he took it from her and inspected it, it was warm, and it felt alive "This is the ruby of Mars, it will help you save her, but the cost will be too great. If you use it, the ruby will take payment with something precious to you"

"But Lucy is precious to me, I can't risk it taking her"

"Taking has many meanings Natsu, she may not die but you may never see her again. If you use it, wish for it to take your mortal soul that way if something happens to either of you, the other won't die"

"What would happen to me if I have no soul?" she shook her head "I hope we don't get to find out"

Natsu squeezed the stone in his hand and sighed before placing it inside his pocket "Ok… so what now?" she shrugged her shoulders and sighed "Now you tell me why you think you are going to die"

"I… made a deal with the council… if I do it, I'll die, and if I don't, I'm sure I will too"

"Ah... I see… what is Shiro after now? Power, money, or just regular bloodshed as usual?" Natsu stared at her dumbfounded, not only did she know who he was, but she also knew what he was after "All of them I guess"

"Well that's a pretty good guess, he's been trying to lore us out for cen-tu-ries! You have no idea" she caught herself and closed her mouth quickly hoping he wouldn't notice, however by the look on his face he could tell her luck had run out.

"C-centuries? I mean sure the guy is oldish but centuries?"

"Dammit… ok, so… he is actually older than you" Natsu nodded as if that was obvious "No, no, I mean… he was born before you were"

"What the hell!?" she nodded "Yeah! I never met him in person, I died before he was born" she flinched again and scratched her head.

"Wait a minute! Y-you are older than him? WAIT A MINUTE! You are dead!?" she started fidgeting with her hands as she noticed a dark cloud from the corner of her eye, she knew she had said too much, and it was time to have a graceful departure before of ruining things even more.

"Yes, and No… I died, I am not dead anymore as I told you I'm a water spirit"

"Woah, I have so many questions right now"

"And those will have to wait because I have to go home! Curfew" she scratched the back of her head and stuck her tongue out "You are like… more than 400 years old EASILY… why do you have curfew?"

"House rules, can't break them! So… Bye!"

"Wait! What if I need you? Would… would you help me save everyone if I need you?"

"If we do… would you come with us?" he stared at her before nodding "Without a doubt" she smiled and took a few steps into the lake "Then we will be there when you call upon us my prince" she raised her arms to the sky and just as the water drops touched her body, she bonded with them and disintegrated into nothing.

His eye twitched before he let himself fall on the ground "Well… I am not sure what to do with all of this right now…" he finally stood up and walked towards his house, the rain was still falling hard. He was half way there when he heard Lucy yell loudly, panic… that's what he felt, but that panic had a pinch of anger, anger that he didn't recognize, it felt as if it wasn't his. He ran again, it seemed that now that's all he did… run.

He entered the house and stopped in the hall at the sight in front of him. There she was, his adorable, sweet mate, the love of his life, the kindest soul he had ever met; Lucy was pinning someone's front to the ground, a very naked someone; she held both wrists with one hand to the woman's back while her other hand held her by the hair.

Lucy looked tired, she was covered in dirt and a bit of blood from training, but her eyes screamed fire and her mouth screamed even louder.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" Merryl squirmed trying to get lose from Lucy's angry grip but failed "Get off me, you…mad cow!"

"Did you just call me a cow?! I'm going to nail your ass to the floor!"

"Let go of me!" this time she managed to pull herself from Lucy's grip and smacked the side of her face, immediately after that Natsu grabbed her wrist and pushed her against the wall.

"Why are you in my house?" he was calm, but his unforgiving look gave Merryl the chills "I wanted to surprise you…"

"Of course, you did! You were naked on our bed you… stupid basket case! Natsu! We are burning the sheets and pillows! We don't know where THAT has been!"

Natsu helped Lucy stand up and brushed his fingers on her now red cheek before turning back to Merryl, he walked towards her and grabbed her by the neck pushing her further into the wall "Don't make me break my promise Merryl"

"Oh, baby you would never, you've kept all of them so far" Natsu tighten his grip on her neck and he heard her gasp for air, he smelled her fear and heard her heartbeat "If you ever… lay a hand on my mate again… I will tear the flesh of your bones and when I get bored of watching you scream, I'll pull your heart out with my bare hands"

Merryl tried to gulp but Natsu's hand made it impossible "Nod if you understand" she looked at him but didn't react and he was getting frustrated "Natsu let her go" Lucy was surprised by his coldness; her words went unnoticed to him.

"I'm going to make myself clear Merr… I do not want you, I do not love you, I am never going to want to touch you, you represent one of the most painful and horrible experiences I've lived through and if I don't ever see you again I will consider myself lucky… so, if I ever so much as smell you close to my mate, or her house I will take you down in the worse possible way"

Merryl started crying, her tears running down her face and Lucy could tell her heart had broken, she was brought back from her thoughts when he heard Natsu's unsettling growl "NOD MERRYL" she redheaded nodded frantically before Natsu let her fall to the ground.

She started coughing while still kneeling on the floor; Natsu went to his room and got the clothes that were laying on the floor, he knew those were hers because of her smell. She simply walked towards her and threw them on the floor.

"Get dressed and get out" she complied and as soon as she was out of sight, he turned towards Lucy, his eyes back to his usual self, filled with love and devotion for her.

"That was scary…" he huffed "Of course… not every day you get a psycho stalker breaking into your house" Lucy pushed him away and stared at him in disbelief "No, I meant you… you were scary. What was that about"

He frowned and folded his arms above his chest "Ok, I overdid it… but Luce, I can't help it" he actually looked confused himself and so, she sighed and held his hand "You are like a dragon protecting his hoard" he chuckled and pulled her in for a hug "No, I'm like a dragon protecting a treasure, the most important treasure… no matter what happens Luce, I'll always make sure you are safe"


	30. Chapter 30

**Woaah, ok we made it to 30 chapters already! I am not sure how much longer this will go on, what I can tell you is we are taking the final turn here, definitely no more than 10 more Chapters and I am going overboard with that statement.**

 **"Before I slept in your bed, I'd never had a full night's sleep. Before I crawled into your arms I'd never been safe." He shuffled forward. "You give me that. You hold that power and you can take it away."**  
 **― Avril Ashton, A Sinner Born**

 **-A-**

* * *

Merryl started crying, her tears running down her face and Lucy could tell her heart had broken, she was brought back from her thoughts when she heard Natsu's unsettling growl "NOD MERRYL" the redheaded nodded frantically before Natsu let her fall to the ground.

She started coughing while still kneeling on the floor; Natsu went to his room and got the clothes that were scattered, he knew those were hers because of her smell. He simply walked towards her and threw them on the floor.

"Get dressed and get out" she complied and as soon as she was out of sight, he turned towards Lucy, his eyes back to his usual self, filled with love and devotion for her.

"That was scary…" he huffed "Of course… not every day you get a psycho stalker breaking into your house" Lucy pushed him away and stared at him in disbelief "No, I meant you… you were scary. What was that about"

He frowned and folded his arms above his chest "Ok, I overdid it… but Luce, I can't help it" he actually looked confused himself and so, she sighed and held his hand "You are like a dragon protecting his hoard" he chuckled and pulled her in for a hug "No, I'm like a dragon protecting a treasure, the most important treasure… no matter what happens Luce, I'll always make sure you are safe"

* * *

Lucy tried to forget about what happened, but how could she? Seeing Natsu openly threaten someone wasn't new but seeing it like that… the tension on his body, his deep serious voice, the emptiness in his eyes, it all indicated something far more dangerous than what she had seen before.

Her heart ached, not exactly because of what he did but because she felt the turmoil inside him, it almost looked as if he had scared himself and now had been left to his own thoughts. Lucy tried to use their connection to get a better understanding of it all, however his thoughts were so disorganized and chaotic that she had to stop before getting a headache.

He knew it, Natsu could feel her nervousness and anxiety and he felt bad for it; did he regret threatening Merryl? No, definitely not, she broke into his home, the place of peace in which his mate shared every single piece of her with him and not only that, but she had dared to bruise her skin; but he did know he had gone way pass the limits. He tried to lighten the mood, be funny and talk about anything and everything just like before, but that thin layer of discomfort wouldn't leave the room.

He moved to the bedroom and took all the sheets from it before wrapping them together and throwing them outside of the house "Do we have different stuff for the bed?"

"Yeah, in the closet" he smiled and moved again while Lucy yelled "I meant it when I said we were burning the other ones, I don't care how expensive those were"

"Of course we'll burn them; I know I'm a mess but even I wouldn't sleep there" she giggled and waited for him to come back and sit next to her.

"I'm sorry Luce" she blinked a couple of times waiting for him to continue; Natsu rubbed his face with both hands and kept them covering his eyes "I shouldn't have gone that far with her… I just…" she felt him struggling and so, she sat closer to him and let her head rest on his shoulder "I can't control myself…"

"Natsu… I know you don't have the best track with self-control but this…"

"No Luce… this is different…" He kissed the top of her head and put his arm around her shoulder protectively "I don't think I ever told you… when… when you got me from the council…" He felt Lucy tense under his hand, they hadn't fully talked about what had happened, even though the scars on Natsu's body were very much visible, every time they were together if she brushed her fingers past that point, she would feel him stiffen, so she avoided them thinking some day he would decide to talk to her about it.

"A lot of stuff happened there Luce… too much happened there…" he sighted and closed his eyes before dropping his head on the backrest of the couch "I thought I was either dead or dying, I couldn't feel a thing Luce… there was nothing but darkness, he had locked me up inside my own head and I noticed it was a dark… dark place to be in" she laid her hand on his chest and rubbed soothing circles above his heart.

"But you got out of there in a heartbeat"

"I didn't… I had tried for a long time Luce to come back, I don't know how long I was like that but for some reason I knew you were in danger, and then I saw it; there was a shinning light like a string trying to reach out to me, to pull me from that unending darkness and when I got a hold of it just pulled me out"

"How?"

"I think… I think it was because my need to keep you safe was bigger than death itself Luce… I can't help myself, if I see you in danger, or pain I just…" he felt soft arms envelope him and a soft pair of lips on the crook of his neck "Silly dragon… don't you know that I feel the same?" he hugged her back and nuzzled her lovingly "I said it that day in the council… I would follow you to hell if that's what I needed to do"

But he knew… he couldn't let her follow him to hell, the path to hell was paved with fear and darkness, with pain and more sorrow than what any normal being could handle and the invite he held to follow that path didn't come with a plus one, even if it did, he wouldn't let her do it.

They stayed there for some time until he felt Lucy getting a bit too comfortable and suggested for them to go to bed, she complied by dragging her feet all the way to their bedroom. He followed his same nightly routine, kitchen, nose pinching, gulping horrible smelly slime, water, bed.

"By Mavis… I think the taste of this shit becomes worse every day…" He shook his head and went to his room where Lucy was already sleeping with Happy laying against her head. Natsu smiled and cuddled with her taking one last deep breath into her hair, this was one of his favorite parts of the day although sleeping was something he had started to hate.

Lucy woke up and stretched her arms above her head, it had been some time since she woke up without the annoyingly adorable dragon slayer poking her face or kissing her until she opened her eyes; she turned and saw him peacefully asleep, his chest going up and down at a calm rhythm while his mouth was slightly parted.

She gave him a kiss and decided to let him enjoy the bed for a little longer "Happy, are you hungry?"

"Lushy that's a dumb question" she snarled at him and flicked his ear "Well you could stay here and starve if you prefer!"

"Aww why are you so meaaan!" she giggled and rubbed his ear lovingly "Fine, fine… why don't you get ready then?"

They walked to the guild simply enjoying from each other's company, despite of the teasing and fighting, they were as close as friends could get. Soon they opened the doors of the guild and smiled as they friends yelled their greetings; Fairy Tail wasn't Fairy Tail without the loud and noisy crowed.

"Hey Mira! Can I get some breakfast?" Happy pulled a strand of hair slightly "Hmm… and some fish for the blue furball"

"You are the best Lushy!" she smiled at him and chatted while they waited for their food and once they did the conversation slowed down until Happy interrupted their peace.

"You are lucky that Natsu didn't burn the bed all together you know?" She was about to reply when she felt an arm around her neck "Aw don't tell me our Dragon Slayer is going wild on you?! You should at least kick Happy off the room before you get down to business"

"CANA!?" Before Lucy had a chance to blush, Mira and Erza's face were already in front of her, the first more excited about the gossip while the other one wore an angry mug "Has he angered you Lucy? Has he been anything other than a gentleman? I will make him suffer if he…"

"GOSH, can you girls relax?... Cana! That's not what Happy meant ok? There was… an incident yesterday, that's all" the girls blinked a couple of times waiting for Lucy to proceed. She noticed they wouldn't go away easily so, she took a deep breath and shook her head.

"When I got home yesterday that red headed freak was rolling on our bed! Totally naked!"

Erza stood up and slammed her hand on the table "I will kill him! Do not worry Lucy! I will avenge your honor!"

"No, no no! He wasn't there!" Erza blinked again and sat down "So… she was alone in your house… rolling in your bed, naked?"

"Mhm… she was… you know" Cana burst out laughing "OH MAVIS! That's an image you are never going to erase from your head… if that mattress could talk"

"Oh My… Please tell me you burnt those sheets!" Mira simply shook her head, her mouth forming a flat thin line.

"That's exactly what I said; I am not sure if he did, he just tossed them outside"

"What did he say when you told him?" Lucy contemplated not telling them what happened, but she remembered Makarov's words back when Natsu was being held, she knew this was not the moment to not share with her friends.

"Weeell… he kind of got home while I was confronting her"

"Confronting her? You were kicking her butt Lushy!" Happy snickered "You should have seen her, she went angry Lucy, and I mean angry like the time we burnt her underwear drawer playing dodgeball"

"Fine! I was beating the crap out of her, ok? Anyways, he got home, and she hit me and Natsu got… pretty pissed off"

"How bad was it?" Mira knew by the look of Lucy's face that it had been bad "Bad… like murderous scary Natsu bad"

"As I said, you are lucky Natsu didn't burn the bed! I'm even surprised he was able to sleep there with her smell all over the place… now that I think about it maybe we should go home and make sure he doesn't burn the place down!

"Happy you are exaggerating…" he pulled on his own ears "AM I REALLY?!" Lucy stared at him until realization hit her "Dammit! Girls we'll catch up later ok? Let's go Flying fur ball!" Lucy and Happy ran out of the guild in a hurry, although she didn't think Natsu would go to those extremes, she was not willing to leave it to chance.

The girls kept going without thinking there were a few mages in the room that could listen from a far distance. It didn't take long for Gajeel to make his way to the second floor to sit on Laxus' table.

"So… do you think we should worry about that?" Laxus shrugged and took a drink "I don't, he is temperamental, and she did mess with his mate"

Gajeel simply nodded "I'm surprised Bunny girl didn't kill her" the blond mage huffed "I more surprised that idiot Natsu managed to land Blondie and has a backup lunatic chasing him around" the iron dragon slayer laughed loudly "What's happening to the world we live in huh?"

* * *

It had been the same for some time, he would go to sleep but wouldn't rest, the time that passed would seem to be no more than minutes and as soon as the sun was out his eyes would open like a freaky reverse vampire; but tonight… it didn't happen.

He woke up to Lucy's voice calling out to him loudly and slapping his rear softly "Natsu! Natsu! Get up, get up, GET UP!" he barely opened one eye, and it took all his strength to do so "Finally! It's super late! Why are you still sleeping?" Natsu couldn't understand what was happening and in his drowsiness, he could only tilt his head and look at Lucy as if she was acting crazy.

"Why are you up? What time is it?" she narrowed her eyes at him and held her hands to her hips "It is close to noon silly! I woke up and since it's weird lately for you to sleep in, I decided to let you, Happy and I went to the guild to pass the time and I just came back"

"The hell… It's late… and I skipped breakfast" Lucy all but snarled "Of course you would be concerned about missing breakfast. Come on get that cute butt into the shower!"

He smirked at her "Well you know if you are going to objectify my cute butt you could at least join me in the shower"

"HA! good try, get up!" Natsu growled against his pillow and got up pouting, he took all his clothes off while walking to the door "What the hell are you doing!" he stopped at the frame, fully naked and turned to her with all seriousness before raising his index fingers "Showing you how my cute butt and I are getting into the shower all alone, because YOU missy, refuse to keep us company!"

She giggled and looked back at him with all the love in her heart pouring through her eyes before he proceeded with his rant "And you laugh at me? How dare you!?" he placed a hand on his chest acting overly dramatic, causing her to laugh harder "How dare I!" he saw the corner of her mouth curling up while she shook her head and crossed her arms above her chest; she walked towards him and pushed him away from the door before entering their bathroom.

He rose his eyebrow while he watched her remove her top before she looked back at him "Well… are you coming or not?" he smiled and nodded before closing the door behind them. He knew one way or the other, their time together had a countdown and it had started ticking closer and closer to the end; he knew it was selfish, but while he had her he would love every single portion of her and kiss every single cell on her skin.

* * *

Merryl was walking by herself, her feet were dirty from walking on the woods surrounding Natsu's land; her abrupt departure had made her hold her shoes in her hand instead of putting them on. Her cheeks were stained with tears and she kept rubbing her neck as if still trying to remove Natsu's hands from it, but the only thing left was a dark purple mark and the remaining heath from his hands.

She coughed from time to time, still felt as if her airway was being blocked or constricted but at the same time it felt right, she feared him, but that fear for her was like rocket fuel. The broken attempt of a soul that inhabited her body kept guiding her to him; Fukuro had hurt her many times but never had she been in so much pain as the times Natsu had snapped at her, never had she felt such need to bleed for someone.

Her mind drifted away, and she pictured herself being pinned by him while he dragged his darkened claws on her skin making her bleed all over him; the mere thought caused a tingling feeling between her legs that made her knees weaken.

She knew she was messed up but in her head her brokenness matched his, and her crazy balanced out his madness.

The troubled woman reached out to her pocket and got a small lacrima device, she observed it for a few minutes feeling a big dejavu; the last time she had been in this situation, she had called Fukuro with news of her failure and to tell him Natsu was going back to the guild, she remembered the fear she felt on that moment, deep inside her soul… now she had a similar situation… this time however, everything had gone almost according to plan.

The redheaded woman pressed the lacrima and after ringing a couple of times she heard the distinctive clicking noise of someone answering.

"It's done…"

"How done?" she sniffled "Completely done… This will happen whether he wants it or not"

"And they didn't see you?" she stayed quiet for a few seconds "They don't know what I did" the voice on the other end sighed "Child… did… they… see… you"

"They did, but not while I was taking care of business. I finished off and decided to… get some rest, that's all"

"You better not mess this up Miss Marlone"

"A little more faith, please"

"Well, we didn't know if you would pull it off because of your… previous relationship with him"

"I told you, there's nothing I wouldn't do for him"

"Including murder apparently" she sighed "I've done worse… for lesser people"

"You know… obsession is a dangerous game…"

"Spare me the lecture old man, there's only one thing I want to take from this"

"We know… honestly I do not care what happens to her, she is nothing but trouble, same as her mother was, if only she was more like her father was before… a business man is always good to deal with"

"She is a witch… she has gotten inside his head and once she is gone, he will see!"

"Right…"

"I will end her, and he will see! He will see that I'm the only one that can understand him and love him just like he is!"

"That's… sweet child"

"Don't patronize me…" She disconnected the call and kept walking "You will all see…" still cleaning the tear stains from her cheeks.

Merryl got to the apartment she was staying at and opened the door before throwing her keys on the coffee table; there were letters on top of it and she sat down and stared at them with nothing but pain in her heart.

She reached out for the letters and held them on her lap while a new set of tears made its way out dripping all over the scrunched papers on her legs.

Some of those letters had been sent by her to her brother and mother; she would ask about her mother's health and how she was holding up now that she had regained consciousness and learned about everything that had happened, she would ask to come back home to visit to spend sometime with them, she would tell them she missed them; but every single letter had been returned until a couple of days ago when she received a response from her dear brother.

The redheaded girl held the paper against her chest, the tears were now coming non-stop and her chest felt heavy, as if being pressed against something hard. She looked at the paper before rereading it, it didn't matter how many times she went over it, it didn't hurt any less.

"Merry,

I'm happy to say that Mom and I are fine, she has started leaving the house little by little and has come to accept that things won't ever be the same.

I want to let you know that we will be leaving town and moving away, there are too many memories here for her and it is just too painful.

Merry… I love you baby sister, and I always will, I wish I could have seen what was happening before, I wish I could have taken you and mom out of that place so long ago… but it doesn't make a difference now. Even when we were little, you rejected whatever we tried to give you, you wanted so much more and you did what you thought you had to do to make yourself wanted… but that is why we have reached a point of no return… what you did… what you have done to so many people just to gain acceptance from him, it's something you can't take back.

Mom has asked me to tell you she will pray for you every night, and that she forgives you, we both do… but this is the last you will hear from us. By the time you get this letter we will no longer be in town, please do not try to find us; I wish for mom to live the rest of her life, however long that may be… in peace and trying to find whatever happiness she can; I am convinced that with you here, that will be impossible to accomplish.

Goodbye Merry, I hope you understand,

Love, Vinnie"

She was devastated, she had nothing to go back to and no destination to follow, she understood then that she had never been truly alone, but she had pushed everyone away and she was determined not to let it happen.

In the back of her head she knew, ever since she was little she had been ashamed of her family because they served others, she had hated the hand-me-downs her mother would get for her, the kitchen leftovers, the constant smell of that awful citric cleaner all over her, but she couldn't accept this was her fault, no… she was a victim in all of these.

Merryl knew the only one responsible for her unhappiness was the blonde mage, she had to be… ever since childhood, her first love had his fate entwined with the celestial mage; Lucy has stolen Fukuro from her and she didn't know when, and now she also had Natsu.

"Why… why does she get to have whatever she wants just by batting her pretty eyelashes?"

Lucy was to blame for her losing her family, she went over the "What ifs"; if she hadn't met Fukuro, his parents wouldn't have drilled into his head that he had to marry her, then he would have been hers, the handsome heir would have loved her with all his heart! Even if they met, and If things had happened as he had wanted them to, her mother wouldn't have fallen to Fukuro, her brother wouldn't have abandoned her… she would have lost her position in the Tatsuma manor, but she could have kept the Fire Dragon Slayer by her side, she could have comforted him and made him happy… she could have been queen of hell for all she cared, but he would have been by her side.

"She will pay… for everything and when she is gone, I will get what I deserve…"

* * *

The days passed calmly, the guild had agreed to keep a close eye on Merryl, but she was nowhere to be found; Natsu had indeed momentarily considered burning down the house completely to get rid of the smell of Merryl, claiming that she had been all over the place doing Mavis knew what but was convinced otherwise by Lucy.

She did however got rid of all the food that wasn't canned, claiming that the psychotic woman could have poisoned all of it just to get rid of her in order to free the way to him, Natsu though that was ridiculous of course; he could smell the food and everything seemed fine, but decided to play along to make her feel calm about the situation.

Lucy had the strange feeling he was overdoing everything lately, it almost seemed as if he tried too hard; he would wake her up softly and kiss her until she smiled, he would touch her with more passion that what she though possible, he would shower her with attention and devotion every second of the day, it was great, except for the fact that she felt him becoming desperate.

If she rested on the couch, stretched on the counter to reach the top shelf, showered, moved, it really took him two seconds to be by her side and turn her knees into butter with his lips. Her body was in actual physical pain, and she wasn't really complaining but the realization that there was something bothering him wouldn't leave her alone. She could feel his anxious heart trying to make the most of every moment and it scared her.

"Hey… you are thinking too hard… come here" he patted the seat next to him on the couch and she smiled at him sweetly "Come on… I'm waiting" he plastered that million-dollar smile on his face and she felt her heart grow a size just by looking at him.

Lucy walked to the couch and sat next to him, she rested her face on his chest while he laid his hand dangerously low on her hip "Are you still thinking about that train wreck of a woman? She ain't coming back Luce"

"No… I…" he knew something was bothering her, so he hugged her tightly and nuzzled her head "Spill…"

"You are being weird…" he raised an eyebrow and snorted "No way… you are the weirdo here" she puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms below her chest "I mean it Natsu…"

He took a deep breath "Ok… weird how…" she bit the inside of her cheek thinking about what to say, but inspiration was in low supply these days "You are being too… too…"

"Adorable? Loving?" she rolled her eyes and shook her head "No silly… you are being too much of everything… are you worried about something?"

He felt as if ice was running through his veins and he had to pull on his best poker face "C'mon Luce! Of course not"

"Are you sure you are not hiding anything from me?" he knew hesitating wouldn't help at all, so he used his best practice tone and smiled at her "Of course not"

She didn't believe him, she knew something was wrong and just as she was about to inquire, he used the best tool he had against her "You know… I love you more than a gazillion volcanos exploding all at once" her train of thought got lost in her words and she found herself giggling "Well… I love you more… than… hmmm…" She pressed her finger to her lower lip, pretending to be in deep thought "Like a zillion meteors falling on earth at once"

"Aw Luce! Aren't you a super sweet dork!" she scrunched her nose and shoved him "You started it!" he gave her a knowing smile before pulling her above him and kissing her neck "I did… what are you gonna do about it uhm?"

She melted… that man was going to be the dead of her and she knew it, but quite honestly… she didn't really care. Lucy ran her fingers down his chest, passed his belly and stopped right before reaching the waistband of his pants, she brushed her fingers slowly causing him to shiver.

"Do you know what I'm going to do?" he gulped, his breathing spiked "I think I have an idea…" she smiled teasingly "Do you?" she slipped one finger under the waistband and brushed his hot skin, but she still didn't go all the way down.

Lucy kissed his neck and nibbled his ear before whispering "You… know nothing" she pulled her hands up to his stomach and tickled him; he definitely wasn't ready for it and the surprise attack caused him to roll them over landing on the floor; he had barely had time to pull Lucy to make her land above him.

She giggled and ran away from him "OH NO YOU DIDN'T! COME BACK HERE LUCE!" he ran after her in time to stop her from closing the bedroom door and she yelled playfully while she leaped across the bed landing on the other side.

"Get away! Or I will have Erza and Virgo punish you!" he stopped and frowned before crossing his arms above his chest "Nuh uh… the only one that can punish me until the end of days is you Miss Lucy Heartfilia, anyone else will have their asses handed to them"

The blond mage stared at him before kneeling on the bed to make his way closer to him; she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead against his "Do you mean it?"

"Yes, I would beat the shit out of Erza and Virgo" she pinched the back of his neck "Natsu!" he laughed before pressing his lips against her nose "Of course I mean it weirdo… I love you"

"Are you going to stay with me forever?" There it was… the question that had been bothering her and that he knew he couldn't respond to "For as long as I can Luce"

She felt pain in her heart and this time she wasn't sure if it was his or hers "That's not the answer I want" he sighed and dropped his arms on the side of his body "It's the answer I can give, is it not enough? Whatever happens I can promise you one thing, I will love you forever, until my last breath and even after… I can promise you there will never be someone else for me, I can promise that I will rather die than see you get hurt because for me… knowing your light is no longer in the world Luce… that would be worse than dying a thousand deaths"

"Have you ever considered I feel the same way about you?" his lip curled up a little and he hugged her again "Yeah, not sure why… maybe we should have Porlyusica check your head"

"I mean it… but I am selfish…"

"You are crazy! You are the most selfless person I know!" she shook her head "No… for me it would never be enough to just know you are out there and well… I need to have you here, next to me, where you belong" he could smell the salty tears that threatened to escape her beautiful brown eyes "You belong with me… don't you know that by now?"

Guilt, that's all he could feel… he cursed himself over and over, he could have held to his determination to stay away from her but NO, his determination was broken down by her lips, her hands, her heart.

Lucy called herself selfish, but he knew better, there was no one more selfish than him, he was drinking from her every minute he could, he would reach for her hands and basically cling to her like a monkey just so he could take advantage of every passing second… for what? He would end up leaving, dying, or both and her beautiful heart would be broken in a thousand pieces, and that smile of hers wouldn't light up the room anymore.

"I belong to you Luce, and I always will no matter what" He was evading, and she knew it; her lip quivered, and he felt like punching his own face for eliciting that reaction. She suddenly kissed him with a bit too much strength, but he was able to balance their weight "Luce, hey… Luce stop"

She shook her head "No…" before she assaulted his mouth again "C'mon, hey!" he grabbed both her wrists and pushed her away "You are sad, talk to me… please"

"No"

"No?" he sighed "Why not?" there were still tears running down her cheeks "Because you don't want to talk about it, I can tell… and honestly I don't think there's anything you can say that will make me feel that you won't leave me, because I know that's exactly what you think you are going to do"

His widen his eyes at the realization of how stupidly obvious he had been, but knowing he was hurting her so bad…

Natsu rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes trying to restrain his own tears, he couldn't understand why he always ended up breaking everything he loved "Tell me what to do… Please Luce" he was looking down, not wanting to meet her eyes "Tell me what to do to make it better… I'll do anything"

"Promise you won't leave" he stayed in silence for a bit, tears now running freely down his cheeks because he knew Lucy took all promises seriously as a celestial mage, and this… was the one thing he could not offer "I… can't promise that… anything else Luce, just name it"

"I don't want anything else… I need you, all of you… forever" his heart broke with her every word; forever sounded amazing, forever sounded like waking up in a cloud filled with her sunshine hair and her vanilla scent all over him, forever sounded like him feeling kicks on her belly and kids running around the house calling for their mother, forever sounded of the possibility of him and her somehow gluing together every broken piece of himself he had hidden under the bed for years… forever sounded impossible to reach for someone like him.

Natsu took a bit to long to respond while lost in his thoughts when her voice brought him back to reality "Make love to me" saying he was confused was an understatement, this was definitely not the way he saw this conversation ending, him thrown onto his ass with a bumped head, possibly, Lucy fuming in anger stomping out of the house, most likely, but her asking him to stay and not only stay but be with her, most definitely not.

"I…" they were both still crying while he tried to put his words together without much success. She kissed him again, this time softly and then placed her mouth next to his ear "I won't let you go… whatever you are afraid of, I'll stop it" he shook his head while more tears stained his face but she wouldn't let him talk "I will, and one day you'll tell me all about what keeps hurting you so much… but for now, I just need to feel you close to me. We will deal with what tomorrow brings"

She kissed him softly and pulled him down with her by holding the back of his head, and he complied. He wasn't sure how to feel about it; making love was always great, but she was still crying, he could smell her tears, hell, he could smell his own tears falling on her face while he removed her top more gently than what he had ever been, as if she was made of porcelain and would brake under his rough hands if not handled carefully.

Natsu kissed her forehead, her cheeks and her eyes; he ran his fingers up and down her belly before softly caressing her soft breast and running his thumb on its peak. He laid his forehead on her shoulder and entered her slowly, still showing the same gentle behavior.

His movements were steady, and he could feel her heart beating rapidly, her shaky breaths and her soft moans; she grabbed him by the nape and pulled his face to her chest and he followed instructions without issue; he suckled on her left breast while his hand kept playing with her right and swapped to avoid neglecting either one.

The Dragon Slayer kept going despite the oddness of it all, and at some point his knowledge of Lucy's body and his own instinct took over; he straighten his back and raised Lucy's hips to be above his tights while he kept pounding on her, the new angle caused her to gasp and moan harder and he took his queue to reach out to the bundle of nerves between her legs; he began softly by making circular motions with his thumb eliciting the most perfect sound from her lips, before alternating with additional pressure over and over until he had her moaning his name and coming undone.

He started thrusting harder and harder, the sound of their bodies clashing filled the room and he couldn't help but growl. He wouldn't come yet, she had to finish at least one more time before he would allowed himself to let go; Natsu pushed her knees to her shoulders and angled himself without stopping his thrusts, her face was flushed and her pleasing voice almost took him over the edge, it took everything from him to hold back but once he felt her tighten around him the feeling took over and he released himself inside of her.

Natsu kissed the top of her head and rolled on his side still trying to catch his breath. Lucy rolled so her back was facing him, and he could tell… he could tell she was still crying, he ran his hand down his face to remove the thin layer of sweat, when he noticed… he was still crying too.

"Luce…" she sat on bed and cleaned her face quickly before turning and smiling at him "Why don't we eat something? You must be hungry" he stared at her and nodded "Sure Luce" she jumped out of bed to put some clothes on and left the room in a rush.

If before he wanted to punch himself, right now he was about ready to beat the soul out of his body, and bring himself back to do it again; she was still doing this for him, pretending to be ok because she knew he was struggling with something, being brave because somehow she felt how hopeless and sad he was.

All the sudden he found himself full of regrets "I should have never told her I loved her… she would be much better without me, they would all be…"

* * *

The Fairy tail teams kept training to prepare for the worse, all separated in different categories, offensive, defensive and containment which people argue if it should count as part of the defense but for some reason the Master didn't seem to agree.

The final test for Levy and Freed's rune grid came, everyone was excited; despite of the rough start the team had, they had found a way to work together in a pretty successful way, they had all apologized to each other and discussed strategy.

"Ok, let's do this… who is going to help us test this today Mira?" the takeover mage smiled and tilted her head "Oh, they'll be here soon… I hope you are ready, this will be the last try"

"MiraJane why would this be the last try?" Freed crossed his arms and rose his eyebrow "Oh well, Levy's wedding is in a week, and we can't let her get that pretty face all scratched up before the big day, can we?"

"You better not get a scratch on my woman" Gajeel's voice came from behind causing them to turn, he walked along with Laxus, Wendy, Gray, Erza and finally Lucy.

"Wait, are they going to test this?" Mira nodded "Which one?" the white-haired woman giggled "All of them of course!"

There were a few moments of silence before Freed spoke up "I consider that unnecessary, even if Natsu is strong, two of them would be enough, one if we use Laxus, of course"

"Maybe, but this is the ultimate test! So, we will use them all, Master's orders" of course the words were final, Freed would never go against Makarov's orders again, not after he was forgiven. They all remained in a single place while Levy and Freed worked together to get everything ready, then with final stroke of their hand, the wall lit up as Christmas lights.

"You may continue, and I'm sorry" Levy smiled at them but gave no further explanation. Laxus smiled and roared onto the wall, it took a second for the wall to vibrate and glow before all the strength of his attack was sent back to him. Erza smiled at them "Come on, you won't hurt him with his own element, do you really…" she didn't get to finish, Laxus was kneeling on the floor.

"Woah!" Gray stared a bit too much and snap his head back when Laxus looked and him and grunted "What the hell did you do?"

Levy and Freed looked at each other with a small grin and said nothing, Gajeel laughed and got in position "I'll take care of this one sparky" he turned his arms into iron clubs and pounced on the wall, after a second the wall did the exact same thing, there was a vibration and a sort of glow before Gajeel was thrown to the floor with enough strength to take the air out off his lungs.

The Ice mage turned to Erza and shrugged "Maybe we should try to hit it at the same time?" she nodded in agreement and presented the idea to the rest of the team.

"I really don't think this is a good idea" Lucy was skeptical, if this had thrown two of the biggest men Fairy Tail had to offer, she didn't want to know what it would do to her and Wendy.

"I'm with bunny on this one, this sounds like a stupid plan"

"Nonsense, our task is to test this barrier, is it not?" they all nodded, not everyone as convinced of Titania's words "And so, our honor is on the line, we will give this task our very best"

On the outside Levy was growing concerned about this conversation "Freed I really think we shouldn't let them do it" he nodded and got closer to the wall separating them "We strongly recommend for you not to follow through with your plan Ms. Erza"

Laxus looked at Freed and huffed "We will take this wall down if it's the last thing we do Freed, back away now…" he frowned but complied with the order before taking his spot next to Levy "Well… we tried"

"Jeez… you call that trying Freed?"

In no time, Lucy was wearing a mix of her Taurus and Leo star dresses which consisted in a black and golden corset, along with one legged pants, brown knee length boots and a whip while Erza wore the green and golden colors or her Nakagami Armor and held a large halberd with a golden circular hand guard in the center; Gray got his demon slaying magic ready while the Dragon slayers went into Dragon Force.

"G-guys I really think this is a bad idea!" Levy was extremely nervous, and she turned to Mira "Make them stop, this is dangerous"

"She is right guys, come on, let's tune it down a bit" before she could move forward Gray made the first move towards the wall and everyone followed. The explosion it caused against the wall was severe although it was contained to that portion of the forest.

Levy held her breath while she saw the extreme vibration of the wall lasting way more than what they had anticipated before its glow became blinding; the silence was broken by several screams of pain, but the light was still to bright for them to open their eyes.

They ran to the grid to check on their friends but before they could say anything Gajeel spoke up "Mira, go to Natsu"

"We will worry about him later, we need to…"

"Now MiraJane!" he flinched "He is going to know something happened to Lucy and I can bet my life that he is already on his way here"

"Don't touch anything, just go and tell him she is ok and will be taken home later" Mira did as she was told, she turned into her Satan Soul before taking up to this sky, it didn't take long to spot the salmon hair man that she considered a younger brother running at an incredible speed.

"Natsu!" he looked up, but he didn't stop "Where is she Mira!?" she landed in front of him forcing him to stop "She is ok, you can't go to her now"

"Get out of my way Mira"

"If you go you will ruin everything she has worked for!" Whatever she said was useless, he wasn't listening anymore; she could see it in his eyes which had turn darker and empty making her shiver, just like an animal being attacked he was showing his teeth in a menacing way "You ain't stopping me MiraJane"

"Natsu, I really don't want to hurt you, please just go back home, we will take care of Lucy, I swear she is ok"

"You… don't want to hurt me?" He all but laughed at her comment "I'll go see my mate, even if I have to go over you… it's your choice"

"You can't use magic, they'll take you away… don't do this" he shook his head and stared at her before taking a fighting stance "Who said I need magic to beat your ass?"

Mira's sweet demeanor changed immediately "Why you… someone needs to be taught a lesson in manners"

Natsu moved fast and attempted to connect his fist to her face, she dodged it easily enough and threw a mean uppercut that hit his jaw, he took a step back and rubbed the sore spot but immediately threw himself at her. His first combo consisted in a teep and right round kick that she wasn't expecting; she knew he was a great fighter but had very rarely see him fight without his fire, but she was not planning on letting him go pass her.

She had a mean left jab and a meaner right cross that were followed by a low left kick which almost made him kneel; he managed to hang in there and push his fist straight to her face; Mira threw her head back in order to avoid it but he had anticipated the move and with incredible speed moved himself to kick Mira in the middle of her back while she was leaning, he entwined his fingers and punched Mira in the stomach with both hands throwing her to the ground.

They were interrupted by Happy's voice "OOOOOI! NATSUUUU" he landed in between him and Mira and stared at her for a couple of seconds "What's happening here?"

"Nothing little buddy… Mira and I were settling some stuff, but I need to go see Lucy now"

"She said you can't" he froze and turned quickly "She said what now?" Mira stood up and patted her clothes "I told you she was ok"

"But I need to…"

"She sent you this!" Happy stretched his small paw and handed him a piece of paper; Natsu unfolded it, if her handwriting wasn't enough for him to know it came from her, the smell of vanilla covered it entirely, making it obvious. The paper simply said "Don't you dare! Get dinner started, I'll be home soon, Love L"

He frowned and pouted lightly before folding the paper and putting it inside his pocket. Natsu turned to Mira and noticed her rubbing different parts of her body, the immediate sense of guilt was suffocating, he never minded fighting his friends to prove who was stronger but fighting them with the intention of hurting was something he didn't want to get used to.

"Mira…" she shook her head and walked towards him "It's ok, don't worry"

"I am really sorry… I just…" she giggled, and he couldn't believe it "You just love her too much, I get it"

"I'm surprised Laxus didn't show up to kick my ass" Mira considered her words carefully, she couldn't let it slip that he could have been unconscious while this was happening, otherwise Natsu would know who was in the team with Lucy.

"We just don't have that type of relationship" Natsu frowned "Maybe not yet, don't waste your time Mira, time is something you never get back"

"I never thought I would live to see the day in which Natsu Dragneel attempted to share words of wisdom" he rubbed the back of his neck "I am full of surprises"

"I can see that" he held both her shoulders and stared at his feet "I am really sorry…" Mira patted his head like when he was a child and although he hated it, he decided this time he would let is pass "It's ok, you wouldn't have beaten me anyways"

"Hey, I could have!" she laughed again "Sure!" but she knew better, every single punch Natsu had connected had caused severe pain, she would have to ask Wendy to take a look at them because despite of him not using any of his magic, his physical strength was something she didn't expect.

If it had come to it, she would have used magic to stop him from moving forward but she had decided not to do it to keep things fair, very much like Gajeel had done while he and Natsu trained.

He went back home with Happy and washed himself up before starting dinner, now that he had grown up a bit his skill set in the kitchen had also improved, and that really meant he now wouldn't burn the kitchen down while making a sandwich.

Natsu decided to not try his luck at something complicated so, he steamed some veggies and cooked some steak. He could smell her close to the house, along with the scent of antiseptic which meant she had been to the infirmary.

"Something smells good!" he grabbed her quickly before inspecting her closely "I'm ok Natsu really"

"What happened?" she crossed her arms below her chest "Can't tell you that, and you know it"

"Tsk… you sure you are ok?" she smiled and nodded. He decided to let go and enjoy her company, Natsu was extremely aware of how stubborn his mate could be, and this was a subject she wouldn't talk about, no matter what he did.

The days went by quickly, Natsu kept fixing stuff around the house and running errands in town that he wouldn't talk about saying it was all a surprise for her, although there was some sort of tension between them because of the awkward uncertainty of their situation, they kept searching for each other for comfort.

There were only three days left before Gajeel and Levy's wedding, which also meant his deadline was around the corner. Natsu was walking in town holding some bags with stuff Lucy wanted when he noticed something strange, people were keeping their distance, looking away, some either went as far as closing the doors of their stores and he really didn't understand.

He lowered his face trying to think when he heard the whispers and his eyes widen immediately. When they defeated Alvarez, the council had noticed Natsu was not only a Dragon Slayer and Makarov was forced to explain the oddity of his situation as well as the existence of the other Dragon Slayers in this time, but no one outside of the council and some mages knew about his relationship with the Spriggan king; this was the main reason why hearing the whispers calling him a "demon" came as a surprise.

He started walking faster when someone bumped into him and when he turned to apologize and offer his hand to help the woman up, she cried and yelled for him to get back. In her efforts to stay away from him she had dropped what she held in her hands, the latest sorcerer weekly.

Natsu took it from the ground and read the cover with contained different notes, one in particular that caught his eye, his hand tightened around the paper and without a second thought he ran back home leaving the bags behind.

He went past his house and got as far as the lake where he sat waiting for his heartbeat to get steady; the magazine was still in his hands but he didn't feel brave enough to open it, could it be that they found out about his history?

The Dragon slayer opened the magazine and nervously pushed page after page until he found it, the answer to his question was in front of him and was much worse than what he expected.

* * *

It has been a calm day at the guild, the girls were out celebrating Levy's bachelorette party in a spa near town which basically meant the bar would be closed for most of the day except for the times that Laki could cover.

The doors to the guild slammed open revealing a very agitated Romeo "DAD!" hearing his son's concerned tone caused Macao to break his current discussion on who was stronger between him and his best friend.

"What happened? Are you ok!?" Romero shook his head "It's not me…" he threw the sorcerer weekly magazine on the table and pointed at it "Look!"

"What did they get some pics from any of the girls in there?" Wakaba laughed and before Macao could follow his lead, Romeo slammed his hand on the table "Stop messing around and look at this!"

That's when he noticed, he quickly opened the magazine and flipped the pages until reaching the full spread featuring a picture of Natsu during the magic games; it had been taken when Lucy had almost died and therefore showed a very disturbed dragon slayer.

Natsu had his foot on the stone rail with one of his hands trying to pull himself to jump off the balcony, murder written in his eyes, and his other hand on fire while Gray and Erza tried to contain him by holding him in place.

"What the hell? "The demonic legacy of the dark wizard" where… what…" Several members heard and made their way to the Conbolt's table.

"This is bad…" Gray pushed his way to the middle, already fiddling with the buttons of his shirt "How bad?"

"Natsu Dragneel younger brother or the black wizard and king of Alvarez Zeref Dragneel died when he was 4 years old, bla bla bla…. Brough back to life by the black wizard himself… making him one of his strongest demons"

"Fuck" Macao shook his head "There's more kid… " he cleared his throat before continuing "Magnolia's own magic guild has knowingly harbored a demon for the past few years without a concern, one should wonder how they can really protect us when they are clearly under the control of the only surviving heir of the Spriggan king"

"That's bullshit!"

"E.D.N Etherious Natsu Dragneel is suspected to be the murderer of one Fukuro Tatsuma, high patron and well establish member of society who dedicated his life to work for the benefit of the underprivileged, some of his work can be seen in the remodeling of his hometown along with the improvements to the once lost tourism of the city

Close sources have mentioned that Mr. Tatsuma's body presented signs of severe torture such as third-degree burns, and several broken bones, which was evident to the deformity of his remains, he was found locked in a… black steel chest which had been sealed with heat"

There was silence in the room, Gajeel knew what they were thinking, of course… it would have been too much of a coincidence for him to look for Natsu and not be involve in any way with that black steel chest.

"What else does it say, old man?" Macao wouldn't look at Gajeel, but he nodded and continued.

"The date of his dead is not clear, however he died before marrying his long-time love, heir to the forgotten Heartfilia kozern, Lucky Lucy Hearfilia, our heart goes out to her in this difficult time. The council has apparently let him go, however we don't possess information on what negotiations were held by Fairy Tail and the council to allow such monster to walk out a free man, if one can even call him that"

"Shit…" Gajeel moved quickly and took the magazine on his hand before knocking on the master's door to speak to him, leaving the rest to their own.

Gray stomped out the guild and made his way through town, he gave the dirty eye to anyone who would dare to stare at him for too long while he picked every single magazine, he found on his way to Natsu's house.

It didn't take long for him to see his house but after knocking for a couple of minutes he realized his friend wasn't there, but not everything was lost; Gray knew very well, if Natsu wasn't at home, at the guild or on mission, there was only one place he would find him in.

He saw his friend inside the lake, water up to his knees, just staring at the sky, his shoes on dry land next to a discarded magazine he recognized right away "Well… shit".

The ice mage didn't know what to do, but he took off his shoes, and walked inside the lake to stand next to his life long rival "Hey ash-for-brains"

"Not in the mood Gray" he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed "I know… I saw it" Natsu simply nodded and looked ahead, still avoiding his friend's stare.

"It's true you know?"

"Mhm?"

"I did… torture him for days, I ripped his burn skin with my hands and broke as many bones as I could, I forced him to stay alive" his friend said nothing, he didn't even move "It took a lot of planning too, I had the cave, the chest, everything in place I knew from the start what I was going to do with him"

"Bullshit"

"Fuck off Gray"

"Bull…Shit, I saw you… we all did, you were not in a state of mind that would have let you plan the details… you planned for shit and I'm guessing that chest was… handmade"

"I don't know what you are talking about"

"Natsu… other people may not pay much attention to that, but we will… "

"He wasn't there Gray, not at that point"

"Natsu…"

"HE WASN'T THERE"

"Ok, whatever you say… What now?"

"Now… I go see gramps… I don't want to cross town again, so I'll make my way through the back of the woods"

"Again?" Natsu nodded "Anyways… don't worry too much twinkle toes"

"Why do I even care about you… Jeez" they smiled discreetly before turning away from the lake and taking the long way to the guild, there wasn't much conversation, but then again maybe there was just not too much to say.

They opened the guild's doors, and everyone stared at them which only caused Natsu's discomfort to grow; he took a deep breath and crossed the room without making eye contact. He opened Makarov's door only to find Gajeel sitting there already.

"Out" Black steel huffed in annoyance before turning back to the master "I said out Gajeel… I saw the article and I need to speak to gramps"

"It's ok Gajeel… Natsu and I need to discuss some stuff, why don't you come back later" he nodded and walked towards the door, only to be stopped by Natsu's hand on his elbow "You weren't there"

"Salamander, I don't need…"

"That's what I said, you weren't there, and that's the story I'll stick to and the one I'll tell Levy and the girls too" Gajeel nodded and left the room.

Natsu took a deep breath, it seemed he did that a lot lately; he closed the door and walked towards the desk to sit in front of one of his biggest father figures.

"So, what now, brat?"

"I… I made a mess" Makarov nodded "Mhm… you had a lot of help too"

"No… uhm, this one is on me…" he rubbed his face with both hands "I… need to tell you something that can't leave this room" Makarov nodded and opened a drawer to retrieve a small lacrima that he brushed with his finger to activate "Very well, no one will be able to hear it now"

"I… uhm… m-made a side deal with the council"

"You what?"

"And I kind of can't keep it, and they possibly know it and leaked the information to force me into it"

"You are going to be my doom one of these days…" The Dragon Slayer felt small under the gaze of Master Makarov, all the memories of him sitting in this room being scolded by him as a child seemed so distant until now "Start talking"

Natsu went over all the information he had, how Shiro had approached him to infiltrate Nihil as their leader and how once he was sure all the proper parties were there he was supposed to get rid of all of them, he explained if he did that there was no way he would come out of it, which would have been ok for him if he had followed his plan to stay away from Lucy, but know that they had mated she could die too; he mentioned what had really happened the day Remy had visited them and how Helle had given him a choice on saving Lucy but had asked him to keep it as a last resource.

"This is… too much" Natsu nodded "Why are these… people so interested in you?"

"I don't know, they say they followed my brother but sometimes it seems a bit too… personal"

"Personal how?" Natsu scrunched his nose "I don't know, it's like… Helle says she loves me and I'm the most important person for her, but it doesn't feel creepy, like with Merryl… she feels… familiar I guess"

"We need to look into it" Natsu snapped his fingers "Oh… uhmmm ok, so Lucy had this book, it seems important and Levy was translating it"

"Why is that relevant?"

"It came from Fukuro's house" Makarov raised his eyebrow "So?"

"Its cover is made out of Dragon skin, not any dragon, but the one that killed me and my parents… and that apparition of my brother kept telling me to get rid of it"

"You should have started off with that… Natsu, when you came in Gajeel and I were talking about the article"

"Oh… so what did he say?"

"He told me"

Natsu repositioned himself on his chair and looked away from the master "I know how much he participated on this, but why didn't I hear this from you?"

For a minute there was no other sound but their breathing until Natsu sighted "Second chances gramps…"

"You also deserve a second chance my boy"

"I had mine… after Alvarez, and Zeref… when Lucy risked her life for me I had my chance" He threw his head back and looked at the ceiling feeling a bit nostalgic "I wasted so much time, I wasted the chance she got me and I took it in the worst possible time"

"That doesn't explain…"

"Yes, it does… Gajeel's second chance is Fairy Tail and Levy and he hasn't messed up any of those chances yet, he still has an opportunity to come out of this standing… he is nakama"

"Natsu…"

"I won't change my story, no one can know he was there… Levy deserves to be happy, and he makes her happy… and once I'm gone, they can look after Lucy, I know they will even if I don't ask them to"

"You can take care of her yourself once we figure this out" Natsu smiled but Makarov could tell it was a smile filled with sadness "We'll see… but hey, at least I'll be here until the wedding"

Both Makarov and Natsu left the office and they could tell there was an awkward feeling in the guildhall; he inspected the place and noticed Gray and Gajeel sitting together so he picked up a glass and sat with them.

"What did gramps say?"

"That I am going to take him to an early grave… so, nothing new" Natsu poured some whiskey on his glass and gulped it down before standing up to leave; but he was stopped when a hand grabbed his arm and turned him.

"Where are you going?" Romeo had a serious expression on his face "Er… away? Home?"

"Sure, but why?" Natsu stared at him as if he was going crazy, he looked at the room and noticed everyone was looking their way "Am… because, I… don't know I though you guys had enough excitement for a day? That article said some… scary things"

"First off… stop talking to me as if I'm still a 7-year-old! I read the article, I know what it says... second, Natsu we are not worried about you being here, we are worried about you"

"Whoa… when did you grew up so much, stop it, right now" Macao laughed before walking over and padding Natsu on the back "I wonder that myself every day, in no time he'll be marrying Wendy and I'll be left all alone!"

"M-marrying!? Wendy?! What are you talking about dad?! Shut up!" the tension was suddenly broken when all the men inside the guild laughed loudly at the young mage's expense.

Of course Natsu laughed at him too, but he couldn't stop thinking on how much he was going to miss that, miss them… he was more sure than ever than the only way to spare them would be to leave quietly and for that he needed to find a way to let the council know he was still willing to complete his end of the deal. He put his hand inside his pocket and clutched the red stone he still carried with him, hoping the day where he had to surrender his soul wouldn't come, little did he know the day would not only come… but when it did, he would be willing to sacrifice everything and everyone to get rid of it.


	31. Chapter 31

**SO!... Hopefully you'll like this one since it takes us to the beginning of the "AH HA!" moment lots of fluff, lots of pain... as usual. This is very long over 13k and I was able to cut 2 whole weeks! Hopefully I can do the same with the next chapter.**

 **-A-**

 **"Hearts can break. Yes, hearts can break. Sometimes I think it would be better if we died when they did, but we don't."**  
 **― Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis**

* * *

"First off… stop talking to me as if I'm still a 7-year-old! I read the article, I know what it says... second, Natsu we are not worried about you being here, we are worried about you"

"Whoa… when did you grew up so much, stop it, right now" Macao laughed before walking over and padding Natsu on the back "I wonder that myself every day, in no time he'll be marrying Wendy and I'll be left all alone!"

"M-marrying!? Wendy?! What are you talking about dad?! Shut up!" the tension was suddenly broken when all the men inside the guild laughed loudly at the young mage's expense.

Of course Natsu laughed at him too, but he couldn't stop thinking on how much he was going to miss that, miss them… he was more sure than ever than the only way to spare them would be to leave quietly and for that he needed to find a way to let the council know he was still willing to complete his end of the deal. He put his hand inside his pocket and clutched the red stone he still carried with him, hoping the day where he had to surrender his soul wouldn't come, little did he know the day would not only come… but when it did, he would be willing to sacrifice everything and everyone to get rid of it.

* * *

Lucy had spent the best most relaxing day in the spa with the rest of the girls, they had all agreed to get to the guild and then part, she had figured since training was done, she would probably find Natsu there.

"We are back!" she yelled and opened the door only to find a couple of people missing, including her boyfriend "Hey guys, have you seen Natsu around?" they looked at her anxiously, but no one said a thing and she felt her world crashing down.

Her eyes started watering when everyone finally understood how their silence could have been misinterpreted and started talking at the same time causing even more confusion than before. Romeo finally stood up on a table, put his index and middle finger on his lips and whistled as hard as he could.

"Shut up before you make it worse!" he got off the table and got closer to the group of women "H-hey Lucy… so, a lot has happened and just for safety you should be escorted home"

Erza came forward "We will be enough Romeo! I will guard Lucy with my life" Lucy blinked a couple of times "So, N-Natsu is ok?" he bit the inside of his cheek but nodded "Why don't I walk with you all? I'll explain on the way"

As they walked, Lucy immediately noticed they avoided town and its main streets but decided not to comment on it "So…" she gasped and held her breath waiting for the worse "Remember that thread the council made on going public with the trial?"

The girls stopped on their tracks, Romeo took a few steps and stopped too, leaving his back towards them "Someone did, and they went all out… they talked about Zeref, E.N.D, the death of that rich asshole…"

"Oh no…"

"They talked about you too… they painted it as if you had experienced great loss because of Natsu"

"Great L… what… oh no…" she covered her face with both hands trying to breath calmly without much success "How's Natsu?" Erza's voice startled her.

"He's all right… given the circumstances. He was in town when he noticed people avoiding him like a pest and then he saw the article"

"Do you have it?" Lucy cleaned up the tears from her face but as soon as she mentioned the article Romeo stiffen "I do… but I don't think…"

"Show me…"

"Lucy, Natsu didn't want y…"

"Romeo… show me" he nodded and pulled the magazine out of his shirt and passed it along. He noticed right away when they reached the part talking about the chest, he could hear a small gasp from Levy. They said nothing, Lucy clenched the magazine in her hand wrinkling it beyond recognition and stomped her way until she saw the house in the distance, and the moment just became that much worse.

Some valiant douche had decided to act as an independent justice seeker and had painted the word "murderer" on their door along with placing some crosses on the ground. Natsu, Gajeel and Gray were standing in front of the house removing anything out of the ordinary and checking for magic traps when both dragon slayers turned to see them.

"H-hey!" he smiled, despite of everything he still tried to do that, just for the sake of his friends. Lucy on the other hand returned no smile "WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY ARE!?" she stomped her way into the house leaving Natsu with arms wide open and a confused expression.

She came out of the house holding a communication lacrima "Woah Luce, what are you doing!?" she paced outside of the house mumbling "Pick up you little shit" until finally someone did.

 _"Luuuuuucyyy!"_

"Do not Lucy me! You piece of shit!"

 _"W-wait what?"_

"Please explain to me how and why our names ended up being mentioned in the magazine and how come your stupid name is there as the author?! why did I not hear about this from you!?"

 _"Chill a little! It's all cool Lucy! He'll get what he deserves"_

"WHO JASON?" he stayed silent for a couple of seconds _"Well… Natsu of course! I mean after what he did to you… I thought he was the coolest but now…"_

"Oh now because of some stupid gossip my boyfriend is a bad person?!"

 _"Y-your boyfriend? L-Lucy wait! We thought we were helping"_

She was crying now, and her sobs came through the lacrima making Jason feel horrible, he had very little experience feeling anything negative and usually thought everything was extremely awesome and cool, but there was no way his mind could spin this around.

"How… how could this help?" he sighed _"They told me he had hurt you! And that your boyfriend had died because of him and now he was forcing you to be with him, what was I supposed to do?"_

"You… you were supposed to call the guild and check your fucking facts Jason! It's called responsible journalism for a reason"

 _"How would I know that a councilman was going to lie!"_ her blood was boiling "I want a name Jason…"

 _"Lucy… I don't…"_

"You owe me that much…" he eventually found enough courage to speak _"He said his name was Radoub, Remy I think… he didn't come alone, he had a hot girl with crazy red hair with him"_

"Of course he did…" Lucy disconnected the phone and turned back at her friends who were still eyeing her carefully. Natsu got closer and hugged her tightly for a moment before kissing her forehead and turning around "So… the cat is out of the bag…"

"Hey!"

"Sorry Bud… ok the… er… dog is out of the bag, care to join us inside?" just as they moved Gray grabbed his shirt from the floor "What do you want to do with the door?"

"Leave it, it won't come off, I'll just have to change the whole door" Lucy was still crying; he held her hand and kissed it twice, placed it above his heart and laid his hand on her cheek "Hey there… it's ok, what if they think I'm the devil incarnated?"

"Y-you can track the smell! Let's go find them and we can explain and then…" Natsu's face became serious and he dropped his hand from Lucy's cheek "No"

"But Natsu…"

"I said no, it's enough Lucy"

"How can you just give up on this like that? We are going to have to see this people for the rest of our lives!" he was losing the last bit of patience he had left but before he responded Gajeel decided to take some heat off his friend.

"It won't make a difference Bunny girl, what do you think this is like any other time where we go and beat some sense into people? Do you really think that won't make it worse?"

"You are not allowed to participate in this Gajeel!" Levy who had been quiet since the start was now giving him "the look" the one that meant he either shut up or else, but he wasn't about to lose on this one "OH I am not? And why is that?"

"You know why! You tell me right now Gajeel Redfox… did you…"

"For Fucks sake!" Natsu slammed his fist right through the door "No one has any right to participate in this conversation, this is NOT your decision" he looked right at Lucy when he said that before turning to Levy "He didn't do it Levy, is that what you want to hear?"

"Look Natsu this is something that he and…"

"You know Levy for someone who carries so much knowledge you are crappy listening to people!" she closed her mouth and looked at him "He was not the one who took that asshole down, nor kept him in a cave, he didn't starve him or burnt him, he didn't break his bones or cut his skin, he did no such thing! I did, so if you want to be mad at someone why not me, uhm? I mean everyone else is! Family is late joining in anyways"

"Natsu… that's not…"

"It's ok Levy… I would do it again and I don't regret it, but you can't blame him for something I did, he wasn't there"

"I was" Natsu turned to look at him "COME ON! Are you fucking kidding me!"

"Shut it overgrown lizard!" he took a deep breath "I was there, and I made the chest and I stayed with stupid here until that motherfucker was cold and dead" no one said anything until Natsu rubbed his face with both hands "He never laid a hand on him, I swear"

"I did not… but that doesn't mean I didn't help; I'm not about to start a life with Levy without her knowing the skeletons in my closet"

The rest of the girls stayed quiet and Natsu felt all his efforts were falling apart until Lucy walked to Gajeel and looked at his eyes so intensely that he almost felt the need to look away "You didn't bring him home… why?"

Natsu immediately intervened "Not his fault…I bailed… I left while he slept and made my way to the council, he was going to take me home and I couldn't face you after what I did" Lucy nodded and turned to the Iron Dragon Slayer "And you stayed with him to see it through…" he nodded and suddenly felt Lucy's hand on his arm "It was the only way… and I know that, thank you for staying with him"

Gajeel had no idea if he was supposed to be relieved of if to feel like shit but it was definitely something in between "Shrimp… I understand if you want to call everything off, and I won't blame you" she walked and slapped him across the face "You are such an idiot! You really think I would leave you for running away to make sure I didn't die? To stay behind to make sure our friend was safe!? I should dump you just for thinking that" he flinched and then she hugged her "But I'll find another way to punish you after we get married and you have nowhere to run"

That's how the guild found out what really happened, and they were all surprised that the information was not taken negatively, they all agreed they would have done the same if the lives of any of their friends were in danger.

Replacing the door had proved to be tricky, no one really wanted to do business with the guild, specially with Natsu, fortunately, Laki offered to do the door herself and promised to do it as many times as necessary if it came to it, the guild would stand by them as always.

They were on the guild when Levy sat down next to them with Gajeel at her side "So… I was able to translate most of the book, not everything yet but I think I know enough"

Natsu turned to her and grabbed Lucy's hand on his own "It has all sorts of stories, wars, life, family…"

"So?" Natsu didn't understand "It… tells a story of a young boy who was killed along with his parents during a dragon attack… leaving his brother with such pain that he was driven to madness"

"So, it's about Salamander's family?"

"Well… the person who wrote it keeps referring to them as "her sweet daughter and her baby boy""

"I don't get it" Natsu was scratching his head while Lucy rolled her eyes "Natsu…"

"What?" Gajeel slammed his fist on the Fire Dragon Slayer's head "Numb nuts… someone called them daughter and baby boy, and said they died in a Dragon attack…I'll give you a minute wrap your small brain around it"

"Oh… so you are saying" she nodded "Someone in your family wrote this… but that's not all" Natsu rearranged his position and waited quietly "As for what I understood, she was very powerful… she made the tension between Dragons and humans increase to carry out her revenge against an old king… which she did, unfortunately after the king died she didn't care for what happened anymore and the tension between Dragons and humans rose and kept exploding decades later which…"

"Which caused for her daughter to die… Jeez… way to go grandma" Levy nodded, she opened the book and showed him the image he had seen in Shiro's office, the one with a dark wizard and the dragons "I first I thought this was Zeref, but it seems this was before his time"

Natsu wanted to slap himself for being so stupid… of course that was not the silhouette of a man. It all made sense now, why Aporia and her people were adamant about him joining them, why they kept calling their place "home".

"What else does it say Lev"

"It has all sorts of stories… but I'm not sure I translated correctly… it seems too bizarre" he rose his eyebrow and huffed "Bizarre how?"

"Well… it talks about Gods and Demons, spirits of all sorts, some sort of golden knight, it mentions a couple of names but that may be just reference to mythology"

"Names?" she nodded "Yeah, but it needs to be made up… you know, Ares, Apollo, Phrixus, Helle, Nizza" hearing that name was as if a lightbulb had gone off on his head "N-Nizza?"

His mother… he remembered the name of his mother and suddenly all the bedtime stories his parents told him came rushing to his head, stories about mighty Gods and their progeny, he remembered… his parent's names had given him that.

"Mhm, it also talks a lot about Dragon behavior, I guess that's how she managed to control them first… it seems she knew a lot about them" both Gajeel and Natsu turned her way "Apparently every nest has a leader, and between the leaders there's a main ruler or something like that… but if you are capable of making that one submissive then the rest will follow, it's kind of codded inside of them, they can't refuse"

"Well yeah, dragons have their own hierarchy, that's no surprise" Gajeel seemed to be aware but Natsu's face was as clueless as before "Igneel didn't mention any of that"

"Oi… how have you managed to live this long without choking on your own spit! Do you think Igneel was called Fire Dragon King because he liked the sound of it?"

"Well… am… never thought about that" Natsu felt like the moment was too tense and as usual he was willing to break it "BOW TO YOUR PRINCE GAJEEL"

"SHUT THE FUCK OFF SALAMANDER" Lucy simply laughed, she had missed their daily brawls and nonsense, so this time she let it slip and kept chatting with Levy; after some time, they both returned to their seats with nothing more serious than a couple bruises.

"You done?" he nodded at Lucy and kissed her cheek "So… anything else we should know?" she shook her head "that's as far as I have for interesting details, as I said most seems more like myths"

Not long after that Lucy and Natsu went home, they took the long way again to avoid alarming the people in town, holding hands until they reached their place. Fortunately, no one had dared to go back to cause them more trouble, but the few times Lucy had been forced to go downtown had been more than awkward.

The house had changed so much in the last couple of weeks, not only was their bathroom now queen worthy but there was also a set of stairs, and upstairs four rooms and two bathrooms.

"When the hell did you do all of this?" she smiled while pacing the aisle that separate two rooms on each side "I had a lot of free time with you training"

She opened room one and two on the left, there was nothing in them, but the natural light was great, same with room number three, however when she reached the fourth door, she realized it was locked "Key please!" she said excitedly "Nope!"

She pouted and pressed herself against him "Aw come on!" he giggled and kissed her forehead "Nope! That's a surprise and if you call any of your spirits to unlock it, I'll be VERY disappointed Luce"

"FINE! When am I going to see this surprise?" she kissed her softly on the lips "Soon… now I really need a shower, can you get dinner started?" she smiled and nodded and they both went downstairs; once he was in the bathroom and she heard the water running she took her chance "Pssst… Happy"

"Aye!" she signaled him to be quiet "Shhhh shut it! Happy what's in that room upstairs?" the blue cat frowned and crossed his arms above his chest "Natsu told you not to open it"

"And I am not! Remember, a celestial mage keeps promises" she have him a mischievous smile "But I never said I wouldn't ask"

"Well, I can't tell you…" she pouted "Then I guess all this fish is going to go to waste, such a shame"

"Luuuushyyy, you can't waste fish!" she turned and tilted her head "Then you just have to tell me what you know…" exactly in that moment Natsu yelled from the bathroom "He knows nothing! He tried looking through the window but hey! Thick curtains are made for something"

"Damn you and your super dragon hearing!" he laughed loudly before leaving them to it. It was a regular night, they had dinner and laughed, she teased, and he trapped her in his version of a bear hug which he was adamant in calling a "Dragon hug"; he did his nightly routine, kitchen, nose pinching, gulping horrible smelly slime, water, complaining about horrible smelly slime and then bed.

He had his arm below her neck while she rested her head on his chest, she nuzzled him and sighed "What?" she shrugged "I like hearing your heartbeat… it's oddly relaxing, almost as if it was speaking to me"

"Oh, and what does it say Luce?" she looked up and he saw all the love in her heart, so much he wanted to encapsulate it and keep it forever "It tells me… that you are a dork" she smiled and he pushed her to bed to tickle her "Oh yeah!?" she laughed until her stomach hurt and then pulled him for a kiss "And that's how it all started… with you being a dork and tickling my stomach"

"I love you forever Luce"

"I love you forevermore" the corner of his mouth curled upward "Dork… that's not even a word" she pouted "Of course it is! And you are the dork!"

"Well… takes one to know one" he stuck his tongue out and they both laughed a bit before returning to their positions to sleep, it didn't take long for them to drift away; Natsu had been used to the weird sleeping pattern he had been experiencing, but that night things changed drastically him.

 _It was dark, darker than what he had ever seen, he could tell he was standing in the guildhall, but everything looked so… dead, so stiff and silent. He walked around trying to find someone, he tried to yell for her name, but no sound came out._

 _He opened the door and what he saw outside made him feel something he hadn't experienced before, it was as if ice was being pumped inside his veins and the emptiness took over as if something was trying to force his soul out of his body and all the light in the world could disappear in an instant._

 _The earth suddenly trembled but what he thought was the roar of the ground cracking beneath his feet was the most horrible screaming he had ever heard… they were crying for help but he couldn't see a thing; the dark purple mist covered everything from ground to sky and it seemed to be swallowing the world in front of him, it had a mind of its own._

 _He walked ahead in hopes of finding someone and stumbled upon rubbage, he was about to continue his way when he noticed a leg sticking out of it and his first instinct was to remove all the wood and pieces above it, but as soon as his hands touched it… it became ash, he tried and tried and when he accidentally touched the leg before him, it melted into a pool of ruby red liquid, blood… it was warm and its smell filled his nose quickly… he could feel the tears dripping down his face but couldn't hear himself sobbing._

 _Silence was engulfing everything once more, until there was one sound, only one that he recognized well. Natsu heard her voice in the distance and with a heavy heart he left the pool of blood that he failed to save, never knowing who the leg belonged to. She was kneeling on the ground, crying as if the soul had been ripped out of her body with a sharp burning knife, he wondered if she had felt the same he did._

 _He walked towards her and on his way, he saw them… his friends, no… his family; lifeless glossy eyes looking at him as their bodies laid on the ground, unmoving. _Levy was thrown on the floor like a broken rag doll, a gash from forehead to chin cutting through her left eye, he gritted his teeth… Levy had always had such kind eyes and now one of them was missing… why? Why was this happening to them? Her body lying on a pool of blood, similar to the one he had left behind, her tiny body was covered by someone he now could call one of his closest friends.__

 _Gajeel's back had a cut so deep that he could see his broken backbone sticking out of the muscle, ripped as if an animal had shattered it with its teeth, his arm barely hanging by a pink muscle thread, but despite of it all… hanging on to Levy._

 _He grabbed on to his face so hard that he could feel himself scratching his skin off, this was too much… He looked through his fingers and saw the red mane of the Fairy queen, his most precious sister… she was holding on to Mira tightly despite of there being no life left in her, there couldn't be… her bottom half was gone, her guts decorating the floor as if someone had played with them and placed them on top of Mira who looked as if the fire from hell had burnt her from the inside out._

 _The last thing he saw was Gray and Juvia, they held to each other as one of those images from the books Lucy had shown him… corpses after being exposed to lava, it seemed as if they had been petrified holding on to the most important thing for them, and as soon as he reached out and his finger brushed their figures, they turned to ashes too._

 _Natsu kept walking until he was standing next to Lucy, feeling as if there was no fight left in him; his white scarf around his neck that moved with the dark wind that tried to eat them up. He wouldn't let her die… he couldn't_

 _"You need to go, I'll save you, I'll make it all better, go now"_

 _She refused and held to his arms, and he almost fell back thinking he would destroy her too, but he didn't; she kept holding on to him, so, he padded her head and flashed his signature grin._

 _"You can't go! You can't leave me alone!"_

 _He hugged her, gracing his cheek with hers and gave her one final kiss before facing destiny_ _"I'll find you Luce, wherever you are, I'll always find you" he cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb removing the tears from her face before facing the thread ahead._

 _Natsu stood up and ran into the cloud in front of him, the wind was strong, and, in the process, he lost his precious scarf, but that didn't matter now. He roared into the darkness trying to find its owner, fire exploded from his mouth with such ferocity that nothing around him could have survived, and then he heard her again._

 _"Natsu! Come back!"_

 _He heard a voice deep within, but it was his own "Only one will live, only one way to make the darkness go away" he sobbed a bit more because he knew this was how it was supposed to end. He inhaled with all the power of his lungs taking the dark cloud within as he had done with fire and lightning in the past; the more he did it the more it hurt and for some reason he could feel his blood pouring out of his body and rising to the sky._

 _He swallowed every bit of darkness surrounding his home and kept it inside, it was done, but he hadn't died; he could see his hands becoming dark claws and his wings expanding gloriously to his sides, he felt the pain on his head as his horns popped out of his skull making that awful cracking sound of broken bones, and he felt panic, not because he was becoming the monster he had always been, but because of what it meant for Lucy._

 _He turned rapidly and saw her still kneeling on a pool of blood, except that it wasn't just any blood… it was his and it was as hot as lava, she stared at him and smiled with tears of joy despite his horrendous look and as soon as he took the first step towards her, she burst into flames and screamed in pain._

 _Natsu watched hopelessly as the love of his life was burnt by his fire, he tried to put it out, will it into submission and consume it… but nothing worked; Lucy was dead… his fire had finally killed her._

Natsu rolled out of bed and fell with both hands on the ground trying to catch his breath, he hadn't had a dream in months, and he didn't know if he was more shaken up by that fact of by what he'd seen. He realized too late that his magic was oozing through his hands leaving burnt marks on the floor and he panicked, just then he heard his bedroom door opening and the only thing he could do was sit above the marks.

"Hey! You ok?"

"Morning Luce… yeah, I fell off the bed" she gave him a weird look and then sniffed "It… smells as if something was burning"

It had been a common occurrence for him to know when she wasn't well, and he knew it was the same for her, so, when he realized she hadn't notice he knew something weird was happening but decided to take the opportunity.

"Really? I don't smell a thing" she stared at him for a couple more seconds "Natsu, please tell me you didn't…"

He laughed and just the sound of his laughter made her relax "Of course not Luce, Jeez…"

"I trust your nose more than I do mine, but I still think something smells funny… anyways! You need to get ready, today is the day!"

"The day?" she huffed in annoyance "Are you kidding me? The wedding! You are a groomsman, I'm the maid of honor… we need to be there early"

"Oh yeah, I knew that… c-can you make some coffee? I'll be right there" she nodded and left the room and he simply tossed a blanket above the space where his fire handprints had left a mark, it was too late now to do something about it.

They sat down for breakfast although it was way past 11 in the morning and he held her hand tightly "You ok?" he nodded and smiled "It's a big day, just hoping iron-breath doesn't mess it up" Lucy laughed and squeezed his hand too "Wow, so you two are like real friends now, uhm?"

The look of disgust and indignation in Natsu's face was priceless "Luce we are eating, don't say stuff like that!" she giggled and stood up to leave her plates on the sink.

"I have to go, we are getting ready at Mira's house, DO NOT be late, you hear?"

"Aye Sir!" she kissed him goodbye and he sighed, he wanted to keep her close, to spend every minute left next to her and he knew… after this morning the tic toc was ticking faster than before. He got dressed in what Lucy had prepared for him, he never understood how people felt comfortable wearing suits, but he decided from all his concerns that was the lesser one.

Of course, any attempt to tame his hair would be futile, so, he didn't care much for it, as far as he was concerned, wearing the tie was good enough. Once he was ready, he decided to detour to the lake first, he stood there, looking at the water when he saw a shadowy figure from the corner of his eye.

"You look very handsome"

"What are you doing here?" he kept staring at the lake, not even bothering to look at the woman who stood behind him "You looked lonely"

He laughed painfully "Now she cares that I look lonely" she didn't need to guess, she knew he was upset "You could have told me… warned me at least"

"And how was I supposed to explain?" Aporia always kept an eye on her charge, and she was aware the small bluenette had shared portions of her diary with them "I don't know… "Hey Natsu, by the way I knew your parents, I gave birth to one of them?" anything really"

He finally turned around and stared at her "So… my mom…" she nodded, her eyes were a bit watery "My daughter loved you and your brother very much"

"Zeref said there was no one left but us two" Aporia sighed and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead "That's what he knew… he was constantly moving around, he visited often but we couldn't tell him the truth, my magic allowed me to keep suspicions away"

"Dammit… you can't be both angel and demon, so make your fucking mind! You come to me because I look lonely, and yet you let him believe he was alone? W-what is wrong with you!?"

"His curse dictated his life, he was too far gone… if he knew he had family who waited for him… we don't know what could have happened" Natsu nodded, she was right after all "What about Helle, who is she in all of this mess?"

"Your father's sister… the one he lost when he was young" He turned around and started walking "I used to sing for you when you were little…" that immediately caught his attention "The same song I sang for your mother, it was a story about how her arrival saved me from darkness…"

"No one was there to save us" he couldn't decide what he felt in this moment, Shiro had said they were to blame for his parents' death and now he knew… the woman behind him had started the war that led to his family's doom, but at the same time she was family.

"When I got there it was too late… I had kept fighting the war I started, I tried to stop it and I failed…"

"I guess failure runs in the family then, doesn't it?" she walked closer to him and place a hand on his shoulder, he stiffened still confused about the whole situation "You haven't failed, and you won't… it was written on the stars way before your time" he couldn't speak… he knew there was only one star he cared for and he would have to leave her behind to make sure she stayed safe.

"I can't be late… I'll see you tomorrow"

"Tomorrow?" he stopped just enough to look at her from over his shoulder "Tomorrow we go home… If you really want me, you'll be there when I call"

He made his way to the guild walking though the forest as he had for the last couple of days, once there he was amazed with what Mira had accomplished in so little time, there were flowers everywhere, chairs and tables covered with candles, white plates and napkins, small lacrimas hanging by thin golden threads making them look like stars on the ceiling, it was truly a joyful day for everyone.

He walked to the bar where Gajeel was waiting already having a drink "You can get wasted on your wedding day asshole! Levy is going to kill you"

"Oi! I'm not getting drunk, I'm having a drink… there's a difference"

"Have you seen her yet?" Gajeel huffed "Your girl and the others won't let me! Apparently, it's bad luck… If we were Dragons we would be married already!"

"Are you sure they meant seeing Levy is bad luck? Maybe they just meant you are bad luck and they are trying to convince Levy to run away" Gajeel fisted his hand but before they could start they were interrupted by a familiar voice "If you two boys even dare to ruin this day for Levy we will make your lives a living hell" just as they turned towards the stairs they notice the small group of women, Erza, Mira, Juvia and Lucy were giving them a terrifying look, but all Natsu could see was Lucy.

Lucy walked the rest of the stairs looking stunning, she wore a dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, it was orange but not too bright, more like the color of the sun when it's about to hide; her heart shape cleavage was decorated by a golden necklace with a thin chain in the middle that carried a single crystal drop that matched her earrings, she wore her hair in a braided bun with just a few strands framing her face.

"Well, at least you weren't late" he smiled and grabbed her hand "If I had known you'd look this gorgeous I'd been here earlier" she swatted his arm and giggled while the rest of the girls smiled and stared.

"Never thought I would hear Natsu Dragneel being sweet, you are just too cute" Mira giggled along with Erza while Natsu pouted "OI! I ain't cute…"

"Right… anyways, we are almost ready, so, why don't you boys join the rest of the party at the back and we'll be there when we are ready?"

Gajeel and Natsu walked to the back of the guild which was already decorated for the ceremony, several lines of white chairs on each side of the blue carpeted aisle leading towards a flowery arch.

"You ready man?" Gajeel nodded and gave him a faint smile "Let's get this show started"

They took their positions at the end, Lily, Gray and Natsu standing next to him while Lira who had been called by Lucy in advance played the most lovely tune; all the chairs were full by guild members along with a couple people from other guilds that had a good relationship with them, of course, not everyone had been there… since the article had been published some guilds had sent their apologies saying they didn't believe what had been written but didn't want to get into deeper waters after their last encounter with the council.

Of course, this didn't matter for Sting and Rogue, they were there sitting on Gajeel's side along with Minerva and Yukino.

Makarov walked to his rightful place at the end of the aisle, there was no one better to perform the ceremony than him, although it had been a difficult choice between choosing him to walk Levy down the aisle or performing the ceremony; at the end it had been decided that Jet and Droy would be her escort.

The nuptial music began to play and Gajeel felt his palms going sweaty until Natsu nudge him on the side "Cold feet Iron breath?" Gajeel smirked "Never".

Levy started walking with her friends by her side and her bridesmaids following behind her and the Iron Dragon Slayer felt his heart stop. She wore a simple white dress with a sensitive cleavage, her hair lose with a couple of flowers carefully placed on her, the corset of her dress had embroidered flowers with a tiny crystal in the center of each of them, with some carefully positioned on her skirt, it didn't take long for her to make it to the end of the aisle and hand her bouquet to Lucy.

"Family! We are gathered here today to join these two incredible mages together… I am the proudest father and it is my honor to be standing here before you now that you FINALLY decided to take the next step into your new life" Makarov could barely contained his tears "This is no ordinary moment, all the challenges, tests and heartbreak we have experienced had led us be stronger than what we ever thought we would be, and I hope you two have learnt that despite what may come our way… we are stronger together" he grabbed Gajeel and Levy's hands and joined them.

"I believe you've both have prepared something?" Levy nodded, took a deep breath and stared at Gajeel "You and I didn't have it easy… we had a rough start and despite the odds we found a way to each other, you've held my hand and my heart for longer than what you know, and I wouldn't have it any other way" she bit her lip and held his hand tightly "You make me brave, you make me want to put my book down and live life… well sometimes I'm not about to stop reading" everyone giggled and she smiled at him sweetly "Life with you will be better than any adventure I can read about"

Gajeel cleared his throat "I… don't know what I did to earn your forgiveness, but whatever it is I'm glad I did it… people always say that when you find that one person life is not worth living without them… but for people like me that's a fact, forever won't be enough time for us shorty… but it's a good place to start. I could say today my soul is yours and all that crap" Makarov cleared his throat "that ain't true for me, my soul has been yours for a long time, long before you showed into my house…"

The ceremony went as planned, ending with Gajeel picking her off the floor to kiss her passionately and throwing her above his shoulder "OI! Let's get the party started!" people erupted in cheers and followed the couple inside the guild where food and drinks would quickly be delivered.

Once the music started Lucy turned to Natsu and placed her head on his shoulder "Natsu…" he kissed her head "Are you going to ask me to dance?" he smiled and nodded before standing up and offering his hand. They danced for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the feeling of closeness when he giggled "What's funny?"

"Never thought Gajeel would be marrying before anyone else" She giggled and kissed his neck "Well everyone says they never thought you would have a girlfriend, I'm sure when the day comes they'll say something similar about us" she regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth when he felt him stiffen "Natsu I didn't mean…."

"Hey… I love you… you know that, right?" she nodded, but he could tell she was hurt, she could feel it inside of his chest. He had become aware little by little that their connection was more than what he thought, and he realized she knew but had said nothing about it, how could he be mad at her for not telling him when he had kept so many things from her.

"I'm getting dizzy… Ill go check on Levy, ok?" he kissed her nose and nodded, knowing she wanted to hide for a bit for him not to see the tears that would start forming in her eyes in a couple of seconds. Natsu knew he could never forgive himself for hurting her so much, but it was too late to change any of it.

He walked to the bar to grab a drink and was soon joined by Gray "This is some party, uhm?" he smiled and took a drink of his glass "Fairy Tail always knows how to, you know it" it didn't take long for Gajeel to sit down next to them.

"Need more booze, move" they had meaningless small talk until a scent caught both Dragon Slayer's attention, and not only them; Natsu immediately noticed Laxus and Wendy staring towards the guild's doors.

"What the fuck are they doing here?" Natsu stood up and spoke in a low tone, enough for the Dragon Slayers to listen, and of course Gray who was next to him "I'll handle it… Gray you follow me, Laxus meet us at the door, Wendy make sure Lucy stays inside with Levy and Gajeel… go to your wife"

"You are fucking crazy if you think I'm letting you go there by yourself" Gray was looking at them with a confused expression "What's going on here?"

"You are not ruining your wedding, I can handle it… I am not going to let Levy's day to be stained by my baggage, ok?"

Gajeel nodded but pointed his finger at him "Call for help if you need it, ok?"

Gray and Natsu walked to the door where Laxus was already waiting for them "What's the plan hothead?"

"Gray freeze the door as soon as I'm out, no one, and I mean no one comes in or out" the Ice Make mage was still confused "What the fuck Natsu? Who's there?"

"Weird Stalker and her knight in shining armor"

"And WHY would we let you go by yourself?" Natsu huffed "Just… dammit Gray, trust me on this one…" they did as he said and froze the door discreetly as soon as it closed and Natsu just rested his back on it.

"Oh, coming with us willingly? I thought this would be harder" Radoub said with a smirk on his face while Merryl stood behind him "No… I have a deal with Shiro, and I'm damn sure you know about it, so what are you doing here?"

"You used magic, we went into your house and saw the marks, you broke your deal"

"I did, and so did you… sleek move publishing the story on the magazine, it really took most my choices away"

"You didn't come through Salamander…" the Dragon Slayer laughed "You mean I haven't… I wasn't missing my friends' wedding, but it's all set"

"You had until today" Natsu got away from the door taking a couple menacing steps "And I'm leaving tomorrow… a day won't make a difference, and you'll still get what you want"

"The contract clearly says March 20th… we are a couple minutes away from midnight so…"

"So, you want to off me here? With all the guild inside, with five dragon slayers that will with no doubt hear everything, under the watchful eye of Makarov, Titania and the Demon MiraJane, oh also Gildarts and everyone else? Not a smart move…"

"You won't always win…" he smiled "No, not always… but I do tonight, so go… and you" he pointed at Merryl "I told you to stay away, you have some death wish or something?"

"I know you are angry but soon you will understand… and you will come to me" he frowned and rose his eyebrow "You seriously need help, like… medical help" Natsu turned around and tapped the door twice to let Gray know that it was ok to unfreeze it, before he could move away he was slammed against the door by Laxus.

"What were they talking about Natsu?" he looked away "I asked you a question" the moment was interrupted by Lucy who had heard the thud and got closer "Everything ok here?" Natsu looked at her before removing Laxus' hand from his coat "Yeah, nothing to worry about Luce"

The party went on, Natsu and Lucy had decided to leave at 3 in the morning while Happy had agreed to stay with Wendy and Carla for the night. They walked holding hands, but she could tell he was observing all his surroundings "You ok?"

"Yeah, it's just… late, with everything going on it's always good to keep an eye open"

They got home and just as he predicted nothing was out of place, but the smell of Radoub and Merryl was still lingering; he went to the room and did his best to cover the mark, and as soon as Lucy walked inside, he hugged her and unzipped her dress "What are you doing?" he smiled and whispered "I thought you needed help" she smiled and undid his shirt buttons while he slid the dress off her shoulders. He knew it was the most selfish act, loving her one last time, touching her body and kissing her skin from head to toe, but if this was the last time he would take what he could and leave her with one last memory of him, as he wanted to be remembered… tangled with her as if they were one.

He barely slept, he left bed early in the morning got dressed quietly and walked outside of his house towards the lake to look at the sun come out one last time when their scents invaded his nose "Fuck…" he ran as quickly as he could and once he was facing the back of his house he saw them.

Lucy was in her pajamas, kneeling on the floor with her hands being held on her back with a pair of magic cuffs, Merryl standing behind her holding a sword and Remy staring right at him.

"What the fuck are you doing!? Let her go!" he started dashing towards them when Remy pressed the button that activated the contraption on his neck sending pain deeper than what he had felt before, it was worse than lighting and acid running through his veins and it immediately made him fall to the ground.

"Natsu!" Lucy tried to stand up but as she did Merryl grabbed her by the hair and leaned the blade on her neck.

Remy sighed "You brought this upon yourself you know… I told you… your deadline was yesterday" Natsu straightened himself up and tried to move again, the second wave of shock made him feel was if his neck would break separating his head from his body entirely "She has nothing to do with it! Just let her go…"

"She's problematic, just like you and it seems you won't understand how serious we are until we take something away"

"If you touch her…" Merryl was angry, he was suffering because of the blond witch, everyone suffered because of her "Why do you keep trying to save her! She will never love you!"

"Don't listen to her Natsu! I love you more than anything!" Merryl pulled Lucy's head back "Stop lying to him! You could never love someone as damaged as him, a demon in all of his glory… you would never bleed for him!"

He looked up and crawled unable to keep his eyes straight because of the searing pain "Merryl… stop this…"

"She can't love someone as tainted as you…"

Lucy was crying "He is not tainted! You don't know him at all, he is everything good in this world" she turned to look at him, blood in the corner of his mouth still trying to make his way towards her "I would give anything for you… you are everything to me and I'll never leave you, no matter what h…" she couldn't finish… Merryl had stuck her blade from her back to her front impaling her and while she wasn't death yet her voice was lost in the whispers of the wind.

"LUCE!" he kept crawling on his hands and knees despite the continuous shocks Remy sent towards him until he was holding Lucy, his tears falling on her face.

"Don't speak, it'll be ok… I'll get Wendy and she'll make you better Luce"

"It's ok… I…" her sight was getting blurry and it took all her energy to keep her eyes open "I'll always be with you…" she coughed causing some blood to come out her mouth before closing her eyes. She wasn't death yet, but her heartbeat was faint enough for him to feel devastation reaching out and pressing down his heart.

"Merryl… you were not supposed to do that yet…" she tilted her hip, still holding the blood dripping sword on her hand "She was talking too much, it pissed me off" Natsu looked at Merryl, his eyes narrowing slowly and turning into an amber color just like before; he hated her and everything she meant…

* * *

Laxus had informed everyone of what had transpired the night before; Makarov had tried to keep everything a secret, but now that Laxus had shared the information he had, there was no choice but to tell them what he knew.

"Master… how long had you known?" Erza was resting her back on the wall, looking at the ceiling "Not long enough…"

"Fucking Flame brain!... Well what now?" Titania stared at him and stood straight "Now we go to our friend, we have no idea what could happen to him if we leave him alone"

With that in mind, they started moving, same groups that had been training except for Lucy, only this time Sting and Rogue had joined the Dragon Slayer group while being informed of everything. They were walking when they heard his scream in the distance, a shattering scream filled with pain calling for her name.

"LUCE!"

"GO!" Erza's commanding voice made everyone run, they ran as fast as they could and in no more than a couple of minutes, they reached their friend's house and the terrifying scene made them freeze; there he was sobbing, brushing Lucy's cheek while holding her, a man who had been completely broken.

Erza saw the danger in his eyes as soon as he stared at Merryl. He placed Lucy on the ground and placed her hands above her chest, he kissed her forehead and brushed the hair off her face before standing up. Remy sent a new wave of pain towards him, only this time he didn't cave, his amber eyes fixated on Merryl, more reptile like than human getting closer every time.

"I'll end you right now demon!" Just as Remy was about to activate the necklace Natsu disappeared from his sight and appeared right next to him, holding on to Remy's hand, the one still holding the lacrima control and squeezing it until he heard the crack of both bone and crystal; Natsu didn't release his hand until he saw blood dripping from between his fingers.

The scream of pain that filled the air would usually hurt his ears, but he didn't care, he moved slower, almost as if he was moving automatically with unsteady steps until he was in front of Merryl.

"H-how did he do that!?" for Lissana it had been as fast as blinking, but some of the higher-ranking mages had been able to see his quick movement "He… ran" Mira was as surprised as her.

"Wendy! Go get Lucy! Erza yelled at her and the young Dragon slayer moved quickly, once she got to Lucy, she noticed Natsu looking over his shoulder "I want to help her… Natsu please" he nodded and turn his attention back to Merryl who was staring at him lovingly.

She jumped Natsu wrapping her arms around his neck "You are finally mine! That witch won't stand in our way anymore" he hugged her back for a second surprising everyone.

"N-Natsu… you are hugging me too tight" he sniffled, tears still running down his face "Am I now?... I think I'm hugging just tight enough… Mer…" she tried to push herself off him without much luck and all of the sudden he grabbed her from the hair and threw her to the ground.

"Leave her alone demon!" Remy was kneeling and holding his broken hand "You… took everything from me… you… and your stupid council" he walked towards him and lit his hand on fire before grabbing Remy's leg causing him to yell harder than before.

"Natsu! Stop this, right now!" Erza yelled as hard as she could, but Natsu wasn't listening, the hate in his heart was too consuming "He won't hear you…" Gajeel stared without intervening and crossed his arms above his chest "So, what do you suggest?! We let him become a murderer?!"

"He is already one, did you forget? This won't change a thing… They wronged him, they tried to kill his mate and he won't stop until they are dead"

"We can't let him do this…" She noticed the rest of the slayers had joined him in an unmoving position, neither of them willing to move against their friend's rightful revenge "You've got to be kidding me…"

After leaving Remy in a pitiful condition, Natsu moved closer to Merryl who was still laying on the ground; he lowered himself to be above her and grabbed her by the neck "You should have stayed away when I told you to…" he squeezed her neck with his burning hand, she tried to kick and scream but it was of no use. Her eyes were filled with blood in no time and her skin looked like burning charcoal.

"You promised your heart was mine… didn't you?" in a quick move he straightened his hand and pierced right through her chest with his strength, for some reason it seemed adequate to finish her, after all she had finish his life… he was still breathing but for him, the moment Lucy's heart gave the final beat everything would be over.

He pushed his hand until it reached its destination before pulling out Merryl's still beating heart and ripped it out; she went limp in an instant and he stood up, covered in blood and holding his price tightly until it became nothing but ashes.

The guild was frozen solid, even the slayers didn't think he would go that far and as soon as he turned to see them the amber left his eyes and he fell on his knees. He hadn't eaten his element in months and he had used whatever little reserves he had left.

He saw Wendy crying and pushing magic towards Lucy's chest and he found the strength to move towards them "Is she ok?"

"Natsu… I can't… it's too much and too late I don't…"

"No, no, Wendy come on! You can do this" he was begging, and Wendy felt like the most horrible human for not being able to do this because she knew… if Lucy died, Natsu would allow himself to be consumed by madness and would decimate everything before surrendering to death.

"I'm trying…" he could see it, no matter how much magic energy she poured into his mate, even if the wound became smaller every time, she had lost so much blood, her body was just giving in.

In that second Natsu reached for his pocket and got the red ruby out, without paying attention to the rest of his friends, Makarov noticed and grabbed his hand.

"You can't do this, she wouldn't want you to do this!" Natsu slapped his hand away "You can't stop me… I won't let her die"

"Natsu! It will take away everything you are! Your very essence!"

"She is everything I am…" He took the ruby between his hands and whispered "Take anything you need… just save her…" he sobbed holding the ruby close to his mouth when red thunder illuminated the sky startling everyone.

The sky darkened and became cloudy, the smell of upcoming rain became heavy when suddenly a golden light broke the clouds, it was too bright for them to stare at it but once it faded it revealed the shape of a big creature with enormous golden horns and matching hooves; slowly, the figure stood up in two human legs, wearing a golden armor, not looking like an animal anymore but a knight. His bright red hair stuck out of his helmet which was also adorned with golden horns, and his amber golden eyes stared right at the person who called.

Aporia, Nephele and Helle appeared right behind him, Helle ran towards him and knelt holding his face between his hands "Oh Natsu… I am so sorry…"

He gave her a pleading look and smiled while tears kept pouring down his face "It's ok, you can save her… right, you'll do it?" Helle shook her head and a few tears made her way to the corners of her eyes "I… can't, I gave you the only help I could give you"

"Helle please!" he removed her hands from his face and held them tight "You have to do this for me, please!"

The guild stared at him with pain knowing there was no way to help her, knowing he would suffer one more lost and that his heart couldn't handle it anymore. They also looked at them with distrust, they hadn't seen them before but knew exactly who they were, and that they were trying to take their friend away from them.

"Helle told you… you could separate your soul from your body to keep her from harm, but what you are asking requires so much more my prince, it may not even be possible at this point" The golden knight tried to explain but he knew well the message wouldn't matter.

"Do it…" he knelt beside Natsu "You are not ready for this sacrifice, you are too weak… you need to understand"

"I SAID DO IT!" Aporia walked towards them, she looked baffled by his request "No… you cannot, I forbid this!"

"Listen to me… if you don't do this, I'm as good as dead anyways, I won't give my soul away if she dies and whatever you were looking to get from this will be out of the question"

"I said no…"

"I do not serve you Aporia… therefore you can't forbid me from anything… My lord has told me to accommodate the price's every request, and if this is what he truly desires…"

"He will lose himself… it can be either one of the other, but not both"

"He has made his choice… whether he lives or dies… it was meant to be" He looked at Natsu "Will you give your life?"

"Yes… yes anything, please… before it's too late"

"You can't do this!" Gray stepped forward and yelled at him "You'll leave us again? After everything she did to make sure you were back home!?"

The knight grabbed a short knife from his armor and placed it in front of him "I require a blood bond… Your life for hers… once you and I are contracted I will be allowed to use my magic to encase your soul and…"

Natsu didn't care for any of it, he was never a man of words, but actions, so, before he could finish his elaborated explanation Natsu grabbed the short sword and stabbed himself on the chest trying to ignore the screams of his friends. He pushed until the hilt was the only thing outside his body, he felt the air escaping his lungs and his hot blood dripping above the body of his mate.

The golden night took the red stone and placed it above Lucy's injury, letting both bathe on the blood of the dragon slayer; he placed one of his arms below Lucy's legs and another one behind her neck "Let go my prince, it's the only way"

He picked her up and placed her on gray's arms "You need to step back Fairies… or you risk losing them both"

He turned back towards Natsu, who was laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"Kneel…" Natsu barely fluttered his eyes at the command "Either you are strong enough or you'll die…" it took everything he had until he was finally kneeling, both hands on the ground and trying to get some air into his lungs.

"With this blood contract I take you as my one and only master, fire will decide your faith… I call upon the celestial fire of the one and only God of War! Known by many names! Mars bathe us with your light!... Prove that you are worthy of being called Master… and I shall protect you and the blood that follows"

Natsu looked at his hands with tears on his eyes and focused hard on whatever energy he had left, out of nowhere a red stream of fire took over the sky landing on him causing him to scream. He had never been burnt until now, fire had always been something he held close to his heart, but now he felt as if his skin melted off his bones.

At some point of the process he saw Merryl's broken body and Remy's form, he was trying to crawl away without much luck. Natsu's pain was gone, the ecstasy of feeling the heat was gone too and the only thing left on his heart was hate, hate for the ones who had started this, for the ones who had tried to take her bright light away from the world.

It surprised them when black flames started to burst through the ground and towards his hands engulfing him little by little "Chrys, what is happening?!" Helle was scared for him but there was nothing she could do "I… don't know"

The stone on Lucy's chest started glowing, it became so hot that it evaporated the blood and sealed the wound shot causing her to flinch unconsciously. Natsu's scream became ear shattering and they could see the effect the process had on him… it was not as when he was END, but very similar… his hands now had black claws although he wasn't covered completely in scales now, just his back and shoulders were; from one second to the next they saw the fire forming a pair on wings behind him until they materialized, red and scaly just like dragon wings.

The red ruby kept burning on Lucy's chest, and it stopped almost at the same time the fire around Natsu was consumed and once it did everyone stayed silent. He stood up, his shirt barely hanging from a few strands seemed to be an annoyance, so, he ripped it apart. He cranked his neck from one side to the other taking a deep breath, the injury on his chest had closed leaving behind one more scar for him to remember.

"My prince… are you…"

"I'm fine… Natsu will do, no need for formalities… your name?"

"Chrysomallos my L… Natsu…" Natsu nodded, a smile on his face but not the one everyone loved… "Your name is too long, Mal will do…" No one could say a thing, the scene in front of them was too raw and painful for them to react "Bring him to me…"

"My lord… we can take care of him, there's no need to dirty your hands" Natsu looked at his golden knight, then pointed at himself "See the blood all over? A bit late for that my friend… but I'm not killing him… yet" the look of fear in Remy's face made Natsu smile, and once they got him closer to him he grabbed his face with his claw "Listen to me you piece of shit… you are going to tell Shiro he will regret the day he met me… tell him I'm coming"

"He will end you… Demon"

Natsu smirked in the most terrifying way and rose his arms to the sky before letting the fire surround him, silence filled the area while everyone observed the black fire taint his scars as if burning right through them and in a couple of seconds the words "Demon" and "Traitor" that had been carved on his back were now painted black as if they were tattoos; Natsu rose his eyebrow and saw the council emblem on his side and with one claw he cut through his skin leaving a black diagonal line above the ankh-like drawing.

"Demon? That's what you want to see, isn't it?"

While Levy took Lucy inside the house, the Dragons slayers circled Natsu. There was something about the situation that moved a primal instinct and caused them to immediately turn their Dragon Force on, it seemed instinctive, like a pack of animals fighting over leadership.

"This looks strangely familiar" Erza told Gray as they went closer "This is the same that happened at the manor, they are going off on instinct" they took a couple of steps closer before the slayers turned and faced them, red eyes and sharp teeth growling at them.

Erza got her sword out and was about to charge when Levy came back running "Stop!" she grabbed Erza's arm "You can't stop this… I didn't think it would happen to them since they are not really dragons, but if we try to intervene, we will be perceived as enemies… we… there's nothing to do"

"Dammit… MOVE BACK!" the guild stared at her in disbelief but did as she asked while they observed their best friends in a feral state, not fighting yet but measuring each other up. Aporia lifted her hands and summoned the purple mist but before she could strike Natsu looked over his shoulder and growled "Stay away from this!" She nodded and moved to the end opposite to the guild.

The slayers growled with fury, the first battle was not of power, but will and so when Natsu released his energy and expanded his wings to all their glory, Wendy stumbled but was able to balance herself to stay up.

"Do you really think you can take me down?" in a second the five slayers jumped to battle striking Natsu in different places, but before he could fall on his back his wings took wind and he flew above them striking back with a dragon roar so large and dark that it threw them on their backs in an instant. Wendy stood up and took a fighting stance but in that second Natsu stared at her "Don't be foolish Wendy…"

She hissed through her teeth but eventually knelt, she was no fool, each of them had more battle experience than her, she was strong but the mix between not wanting to hurt any of her friends and knowing this was a lost cause was bigger than her own pride as a dragon slayer. Natsu moved towards her and patted her head in approval before facing the remaining four slayers.

Rogue changed to shadow form, thinking since his flames were dark he could probably use that to his advantage, but as soon as he tried to get close to them they started moving as if they had a mind of their own, they removed him from the shadow, wrapped around his neck and slammed him against the floor "Kneel Rogue…" he shook his head but his body moved without his permission, and he ended up kneeling right in front of Natsu, who then did the same as with Wendy.

"Stand up Rogue!" Sting was furious, the sight of his friend being that submissive was not something he ever wanted to see, but even after listening to his voice, Rogue wouldn't look at him.

"It's no use… Dragon Law trumps everything else"

"Bullshit!" Natsu smiled "Ok. Rogue…" the shadow dragon slayer looked up "Make him kneel" Rogue gulped and with tears on his eyes stared back at his best friend "I'm… so sorry Sting…"

"You can't do this! You need to fight him!" Rogue shook his head and took his fighting stance before launching himself to punch Sting right on the face.

"And then there were 2! What's it going to be?" Laxus and Gajeel were stronger than the rest and he knew it would be harder, but right now he was in a whole different league. The fire that had fed him was the purest and strongest of them all, and the darkness filling him was boosting it up.

"Lighting Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

A tornado of immense force exploded releasing thousands of metal shards in the process, it worked as a lightning rod calling upon Laxus' electricity and joining in one single and deadly looking attack.

Natsu touched the ground with his hands pulling fire out of nowhere and surrounded the metal stream melting it so bad that it seemed a lava river was being created on the ground between them.

"Care to try again?"

By the time this happened, Sting was already on the ground. Rogue knelt in front of him and hugged him tightly apologizing repeatedly.

Gajeel decided if Natsu would melt everything he sent then close combat was the best choice; he dashed towards him with his body covered in metal scales and tried landing a punch, but that amazing speed that he had only been able to use when Lucy was in danger was now his normal speed.

It didn't take long for Laxus to join in on the fight and the tree of them started exchanging devastating blows; during this time, Natsu would commonly laugh, but that sound that used to bring them peace was now something that sent shivers down their spine.

They couldn't take it anymore, seeing Natsu like this was too much; Erza and Gray ran towards him but before they could reach him Helle and Nephele stopped them "He said no one could intervene"

"I don't give a shit! Look at what he is doing!" Gray was livid, he placed his fist against his hand "Ice-Make Hammer!"

The nymphs were barely able to jump away from the impact area; things started getting to tense and when Erza got ahold of her sword and Mal appeared in front of her doing the same Natsu realized play time was over.

He didn't feel the love he had for them, he didn't feel happiness at the memories he had but he knew the last thing he would have wanted before this happened was for them to get hurt, so, he took upon the skies and expanded his wings "Fire Dragon King's Purgatory!" fire spread through his entire body before sending it towards Laxus and Gajeel, the heath was so big that the trees around the place caught on fire, the only reason why the house and the people had survived had been thanks to Juvia using her water lock, unfortunately it was so big that it consumed most her energy causing her to fall unconscious.

When the fire dissipated the tree slayers were still standing, Gajeel and Laxus were doing their best to stay up but it was useless, eventually they too fell and knelt before Natsu.

"Stop this nonsense Natsu!" he turned to Erza who was still holding her sword tightly "Mal… let her be, we're leaving"

"You are going nowhere! Come back here!" Erza tried to get closer but Mal wouldn't budge "Ms. Scarlett… please step away"

"Natsu!" he stopped, turned and walked back to Erza but the expression she saw was not the one of the innocent boy who would fear her "I am leaving, for good… and you won't do a thing to stop it or I will order the slayers to decimate the guild"

"You wouldn't…" he gave her a cold stare "Would you care to find out what I would or wouldn't do?"

"How could you even say that ash-for-brains?" Gray was holding Juvia in his arms "You are the one who always says family stays together!"

"I do say that… my family waits for me and you will continue living your lives as usual… for now" he walked to the still kneeling slayers "You are free until I decide otherwise…" they stood up giving him the angriest glare, but he didn't care. He got closer to Gajeel grabbed him by the neck and locked foreheads with him "You… will keep her safe, even from me" he let him go and turned to look at Aporia, he nodded and in an instant the purple mist surrounded them and made them disappear into thin air.

Fairy Tail was left in silence, pain and loss, because whatever they had tried to do to save them had only gained time before the inevitable happened and now, they knew that, because Natsu had always known the day would come for him to leave and everyone had been powerless about it.

Gray slammed his fists on the floor and tried to hide the tears on his eyes "Fucking idiot! How could he do this?!" no one had an answer for that, they all stayed on the same place they had been before, avoiding each other's looks "He didn't say a thing and he was carrying this shit with him since the day he came back! WHY does he keep doing this shit! Fucking martyr!"

"Because he thought it was the only way…" Gajeel's voice was strained and tired, he was not in his best shape but was still awake "We can't beat him… not anymore" Laxus stood up "We can't even try… if we get too close to him, we could become a danger for everyone else…"

They all went home to lick their wounds and morn their loss, all except for Lucy who was taken to the infirmary, her wounds seemed to heal instantly, but she was still asleep, it wasn't until the next day when she woke up startled and with a name on her lips "Natsu!"

Wendy came rushing to her "Lucy take it easy, how are you feeling?"

"Where is he? I need to see him Wendy… I… don't feel him anymore" tears started running down her cheeks, the young slayer grabbed her hand and opened her mouth a couple of times to speak but before she could explain, Makarov came through the door.

"Leave us" Wendy nodded and squeezed Lucy's hand before leaving and closing the door behind her.

"Is he… Master did he…" Makarov shook his head "He's still alive…" he could tell Lucy felt relieved and he felt bad for having to break the news to her "He's lost to us…"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"He made a choice" she bit her lip "What choice… Master what happened?"

"You were dying Lucy… he… gave himself up to keep you alive"

"No…" Makarov sat on the bed "I'm sorry"

Lucy wiped the tears off her face "It's ok, we just have to go get him, and then bring him back, right?"

"I'm afraid we can't do that… he warned us to stay away, he has control over the slayers now and will use them against us if needed, we are strong Lucy… but containing five dragon slayers…"

"He would never do that! You know this, he is not capable of…"

"He killed Merryl" Lucy stared at him in shock "He… ripped her hear out, he burnt Radoub's leg and broke his hand… we can't take the risk now child" the master took the red ruby and placed it on her legs "This is the only thing he left behind"

She took it in her hands and cradled it "It feels warm… just like he does…" she looked at the old man in front of her, he seemed to have aged even more and a few tears fell from his eyes "Master… Fairy Tail can't give up on him"

"We didn't… he gave up on us dear"


	32. Chapter 32

**Yo! hope you are all doing fine, I was planning on having this done in less time but work has been crazy...**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"Mine could not be a story about the building of character, but about its erosion, about the slow accumulation of small forces and events that ultimately dries the soul and leaves the heart empty."**  
 **― Gonzalo Munevar, The Master of Fate**

* * *

"He made a choice" she bit her lip "What choice… Master what happened?"

"You were dying Lucy… he… gave himself up to keep you alive"

"No…" Makarov sat on the bed "I'm sorry"

Lucy wiped the tears off her face "It's ok, we just have to go get him, and then bring him back, right?"

"I'm afraid we can't do that… he warned us to stay away, he has control over the slayers now and will use them against us if needed, we are strong Lucy… but containing five dragon slayers…"

"He would never do that! You know this, he is not capable of…"

"He killed Merryl" Lucy stared at him in shock "He… ripped her hear out, he burnt Radoub's leg and broke his hand… we can't take the risk now child" the master took the red ruby and placed it on her legs "This is the only thing he left behind"

She took it in her hands and cradled it "It feels warm… just like he does…" she looked at the old man in front of her, he seemed to have aged even more and a few tears fell from his eyes "Master… Fairy Tail can't give up on him"

"We didn't… he gave up on us dear"

* * *

Lucy sat on the bed trying to understand his words, but they seemed unreal, they had to be… her hands fisted the white sheet and her body shook while she bit her lip.

"I know this is hard child, believe me if there had been something…"

She didn't react well to the Master's words and as soon as he had said them she threw the blanket off her body, got off the bed and slammed the door open before attempting to cross the guild barefooted and with nothing more than her gown while Makarov followed her.

"Lucy! You need to understand" she kept going while all of her friends looked at her filled with pain, only some trying to get on her way while she pushed them away one by one "Child, stop right now!"

"NO… I need to find him!" she almost reached the door when Gajeel grabbed her from behind and pulled her "Let go!"

"You can't go bunny girl" she kicked and screamed; there was nothing he could do to sooth her, he remembered the desperation he felt when he thought Levy was gone, and the only thing he could do know was bite his lip knowing she was broken inside. Gajeel wanted to let her go, hell, he wanted to go with her and find Natsu to punch his head for making what he considered the most stupid decision his friend had ever made.

"He doesn't want you there damn it!" all of the sudden the kicking stopped, and she went limp on his arms, her feet still not touching the floor "He's all alone Gajeel! He hates being alone…"

"I promised to keep you safe… I won't let you go" she started pushing again "You promised!? How many more promises are you planning on making Gajeel!?"

"Dammit Lucy! Stop it!"

Levy came closer and stood right in front of Lucy, she signaled him to let her go and although he was hesitant at first, he did was he was asked. It felt like all the fight had left Lucy's body and she fell on her knees while Levy hugged her tightly.

"Shh… It's allright Lu… I'm here" The pain inside her heart was too much to resist, as soon as the devastation set in, a magic pulse of sorrow from within rippled throughout the guild with such a force that it became harder to breath for everyone; it was as if darkness itself had made an appearance and covered every single corner of the building, making their knees buckle under its strength.

Peace didn't last long because in no time Lucy got a second wind and stood up in a second attempt to leave the guild, however, this time the one to stop her was not someone she was eager to see.

A flash of golden light filled the room, Loke stood there in his impeccable suit, his glasses perfectly arranged on his flawless face but there was something different.

His eyes were glued to the floor as if trying to look her in the eye was too much, but he stood there between her and the door and in that moment her pain and anger flooded the room again, this time harder than before. It was as if her magic energy was oozing through her pores and it was completely overwhelming even for the leader of the zodiac.

"Move Loke…" he shook his head "Princess…"

"Don't you dare…" she cleaned her face with the back of her hand before pointing her delicate finger at him "Where the fuck were you!?"

"I… Lucy…" he couldn't form a coherent sentence, he brushed his hair back and bit his lip when suddenly she broke his heart with just a few words "Some friend did you turn out to be…"

"Don't say that… if you would just"

"What?!" she stomped her foot on the floor "What do you want that I haven't been willing to give?"

"Time… just give me time to explain"

"You had plenty of time Loke… you've had time to open your own gate at will to screw everything that moved, haven't you?"

"Lucy…"

"B-but when I really needed you…"

Gray walked towards her and placed his hand on her shoulder "Woah, Lucy… come on" she slapped his hand away "Don't touch me… you all let him leave! And I'm going to get him back, no matter the cost"

"Even if it costs your life! Lucy be reasonable!" the Ice-make mage had seen Natsu lost himself in darkness and just the thought of Lucy getting hurt was too much for him to bear.

"HE IS MY LIFE!"

"Enough!" Erza walked to Lucy and slapped her across the face surprising everyone "He gave everything away to let you live! And you will respect his wishes!" she was crying, and Lucy could see the pain in her face and for a moment she calmed herself and looked around her "If you think for one second you are the only one suffering Lucy… think again…"

"Erza… I don't" she shook her head "He was our family… we watched him grow stronger, he saved us… he saved me over and over and he gave us hope where there was none, he brought you to us and if you think we are going to watch you go… if you think we are willing to lose you too…"

Her cry came harder now, and Lucy simply wrapped her arms around her while they both surrendered to the pain.

"I c-can't lose him… Erza I can't lose him again… please" the pleading sound in her voice crushed the great Titania, she held Lucy tightly but said nothing… what could she say? She knew better than most what it was to have love so close to you only for it to be taken away.

The queen of the fairies had seen her almost adoptive brother right in the eye when he threatened them and there was one thing that had concerned her the most; she could handle anger and hate, but she didn't see that, she saw no evil but that was exactly the problem… there was nothing left… no emotion was seen on his eyes.

The idea of someone as loving, caring and loyal as Natsu having no emotions while casually saying he would unleash no… force his own friends to take them down, knowing they wouldn't be able to go against him and that they wouldn't forgive themselves for harming any of them, that was terrifying.

Erza took the blond mage back to the infirmary and sat on the bed with her "Lucy… whatever you think you are going to find… it's gone"

"I know him…" The redheaded woman sighed "He was so broken… when he thought you were dying… Lucy I saw the hate on his eyes when he killed Merryl…"

"T-they did something to his head, he was being controlled!"

"No… I saw him Lucy, he killed her because he wanted to take her life for trying to take yours and that was all Natsu…"

"He is not evil… he is Natsu… Erza…"

"Whatever Natsu was is no longer there…" Erza grabbed Lucy's hand "He made Laxus kneel to him Lucy, he crushed the pride of every slayer, he made Rogue fight Sting and crush him… his magic was so strong more than half of us couldn't even move, our knees were shaking under the pressure and if you go… whatever memory you have of him will faint and it'll be replaced by what he is now"

"He would never hurt me"

"We can't know that… what we do know is that if we go to him, he will make sure all of our family pays for it, do you want that on your conscience?"

Lucy sobbed and laid down on the bed hugging her legs and crying once more, surrendering to desperation, letting her soul bleed inside her body.

* * *

Darkness filled the dark stone room, the only light in there came from dark fire surrounding a shining pit in the middle and a couple of torches made from old large bones that didn't look human; a man sat peacefully occupying one of the two chairs on the only table there, one leg crossed above the other observing a chess board that held red and black pieces, not the common ones you would find…

The pieces seemed odd as some looked like demons, others like semi human forms with terrified expressions; he held one and placed it near his ear just like a person would do with a shell from the ocean before laughing to himself.

He was tall, his long well sculpted face and sharp chin suited him perfectly, his skin was so white that it almost looked as if it reflected the light of the fire before him, like the moon reflecting the sun; his hair was a perfect match to the ash left behind after destruction and his eyes were as dark as coal.

He heard footsteps getting closer, but he wasn't surprised, nothing reached the underworld without his knowledge, and he didn't need his ferryman to announce this particular visit.

A man as tall as him sat on the chair across the table, his face filled with anger and his mouth in a thin flat line; he had a strong squared jaw and red amber eyes that seemed to match his bright red hair, he crossed his arms above his chest before speaking to him

"Hades…"

"I prefer Uncle… What can I do for you? May I interest you in a game of chez, dear nephew?"

"I had claimed the boy for myself, you had no business interfering!"

"No, no… you… Ares" Hades pointed his thin long index finger towards him "had claimed his father as your son although it was really the son of that bitch you dare to call your sister… not that she deserves the title"

"Leave her out of this…"

"Fine, fine… anyways the boy was fair game, unclaimed and always playing on the very blurry line of fate"

"You are playing a dangerous game…"

"You are still a child after all… eons have thought you nothing. You intervened, so, I did too. Did you really think I would find out what you and that witch were up to and let you move all the strings? Stupid child… I should take her out right now"

"You've had centuries to do that uncle, you could have taken away the gifts you bestowed on her, but you didn't… why is that?"

Hades smiled and entwined his fingers together "She had a purpose… she still does but that will not always be the case. Now going back to the boy…"

"You've tainted him… he was never supposed to be filled with darkness"

"But he was! And that was not my doing, he has been tainted for too long, and when the time comes, he will destroy everything, and all the souls will be here, what are Gods without people to worship them, right? But there are things that will prevail… war and death are two of them"

"He won't surrender to you…"

"Everyone dies nephew… and once they reach my domain, they all surrender to me, one way or another"

* * *

As soon as the smoke dissipated, Natsu found himself in a dark gray stone room, big arcs and pillars on its sides which held black flags with a red claw looking image in the middle.

"Welcome home my lord" Aporia bowed and smiled lovingly but he didn't return the gesture, his emotionless face made her ache for the boy she had spent so much time looking at through her orb.

"Home?" There sensation of emptiness inside his chest was suffocating and for a moment he felt as if the air was too thin to breathe. All known feelings were gone, but the memories remained and for him the image of home was not a stone-cold room; the image of home had been noisy, rowdy, and colorful; home was where he would slam the door to announce his arrival and where she greeted him with a smile, but what was she to him now? He didn't know, he couldn't feel it anymore although he hoped deep inside the feeling was still there because it meant he wasn't completely gone "Mhm, where exactly are we?" she straightened herself "Nihil"

"Right… but where?"

"We are nowhere, this place is sustained by my magic, and is able to flow though whichever space I desire"

"Well put us down then… I don't care if it's in the middle of nowhere, I'd like to have some steady ground"

"But…" he hissed through his teeth "Ground… now" she nodded and lifted her hands, took a deep breath and after only a minute she smiled at him "It is done… we are far enough from Fiore so it should be safe"

"I'd like to rest… it's been a long day"

"Natsu…" the golden knight took a step forward "What would you like us to do with our visitor?" Natsu had almost forgotten Remy was still there, laying on the floor with his eyes fearfully scanning the room "Lock him somewhere where I can't hear him… I'll deal with him later" with a nod, the knight picked the prisoner up and walked away and although Remy tried to release himself it was useless.

"I'll take him to his room aunty" Helle smiled and leaped happily towards Natsu, she held his hand and pulled him quickly. It felt odd, before he could feel a sense of familiarity towards her but now it felt like any other hand holding his, nothing more, nothing less.

While they walked through the long stone aisle she pointed at different rooms "This is mama's room, and that's aunty Ria's, this is her library and my study is next to it" he wasn't really paying attention, he simply allowed her to pull him until they arrived to the last door.

"And this is your room!" she opened the door to reveal an incredibly large room, probably bigger than the first floor of his house. He thought the bed was too big, but it looked comfy enough; the bed was covered with red fluffy blankets and a ridiculous number of pillows, he never understood why people needed so many but then again, he had slept in a hammock almost his entire life.

There was a black leather bench at the foot of his bed where he immediately sat, the room was spacious and had a huge glass door that led to balcony, a desk had been placed next to the room's door and on the other another door that he assumed led to his bathroom.

"Do you like it?" she smiled expectantly "Yeah, it's fine" Helle immediately frowned "You don't look happy"

"Can I even feel happy anymore?"

"I… don't really know… maybe we should ask Chrys" he rose his eyebrow "Chrys?"

"Well that's how I call him, I guess you decided "Mal" suited him better"

"Oh…Ok… so let's get some things out of the way before anything else… I want no more bullshit, so… who are you?"

"You already know that, aunty told you" he scrunched his nose and she sighed "I'm Helle… and I was your father's sister, when I died mama and aunty Ria made a deal with the water spirits and brought me back" Natsu nodded "You see… is that simple, no bullshit… What about the rest?"

"Mama is a cloud nymph created by the Gods to use at will… they don't care much for her and the feeling is mutual, so, you know… Aunty she already explained who she is"

"You said we were family, I don't feel like we are… I don't think I feel anything anymore"

There was a knock on the door and after gaining permission Mal bowed and closed the door behind him "I hope your new accommodations are sufficient my lord"

"Cut the crap… I said Natsu would do, now I want to know who are you in all of this?

"I've introduced myself" The Dragon slayer huffed "What? Are you some sort of long-lost cousin or something?"

"I am not your blood… not as they are, but I did know your father"

"How?" Mal looked at Helle and waited for her to nod "I tried to save him and Helle when they were young, she died… but I was able to take him with me to the Dragon's cave, he was supposed to take my life there in order to fulfill his destiny but…"

"But?..." he shook his head "He refused… he said no destiny was worth taking a life of someone he owed his life to"

"Wait, a dragon's cave?"

"The Fire King's nest" Natsu's eyes widen, there were too many coincidences "Igneel… you knew Igneel?"

Mal nodded and smiled "Ig and I go way back, we were both born with the blessings of Mars' fire, but our strength was different, he was stubborn and refused to serve any God"

"Sounds like that would piss someone off" Mal giggled "Indeed… but he was one of his favorite creations, and so he got away with it as he usually did"

"What happened then? After he refused to kill you?"

"Ig didn't allow him to leave the cave for years… he thought people would look for him and put him in danger, so I trained him and when he was ready we let him go with the promise he would reveal his true name to no one, he only broke that promise once… when he met your mother"

"Why would they look for him?"

"You should get some rest… we'll have plenty of time to fill you in on all of the details" he wasn't happy about it but at the end all the information had been a bit overwhelming, so, he finally agreed. Once they left him, he went to bed, afraid of what his dreams could bring… but nothing came.

Sleeping was just as being locked inside the darkness of his mind, emptiness surrounding him and no matter what he did, that was something he couldn't escape from.

* * *

Lucy couldn't sleep, every time she closed her eyes, he saw his smiling face; it was as if he stood behind a mirror and every time she looked away from it, a piece of it cracked and fell to her feet.

Mira tried to get her to eat and drink but it was useless; she felt a piece of her soul had gone to hell and the rest had died the moment he was gone, she wondered if this is what it felt when you lost your soulmate, she wondered if this was what dragons felt when they let themselves die.

She tried to reach Natsu through their bond but she felt nothing but emptiness and pain, and the only thing that kept her going was the thought that maybe that was what he was feeling… she felt awful for wishing he was in pain but it wasn't the fact that she wanted him to suffer, but that if that was him… he still felt something, and feeling, no matter how horrible it was sometimes, it meant you were still alive.

Morning came but the guild was still quiet, it was as if they were mourning the loss of someone and that made her even angrier… he wasn't dead.

That's when the Master came to visit her again "We are meeting in the guildhall at noon" she didn't answer, she didn't even acknowledge his presence "Natsu asked me to give you this if something was to happen"

She sat up quickly and stared at Makarov's hand, it was a key. Finally, she reached out and got the object off his hand, and he could tell she was disappointed.

"Asshole…" Makarov rose his eyebrow and she stood up "I need to go home…"

"I don't think that's the best for now"

"He said it was a surprise, and that's why I couldn't see it… now he leaves you the stupid key to the only room in my house that I haven't seen, maybe there's a clue there or something"

"Lucy…"

"I'll be back by noon, I promise…"

She went home despite of the objections, no matter how much everyone wanted to keep an eye on her she couldn't be around them. She knew they had tried, they were suffering too, but her heart couldn't help but feel angry because he was gone, they saw him leave and no matter how hard they trained at the end none of them did a thing.

All the bruises, tactics and techniques had been useless, there hadn't been enough time to try any of their strategies. They were, in lack of better words… insufficient.

Lucy was so lost in thought that she didn't notice when she took the short way home dragging her feet through town, and the whispers of people made their way to her.

"So, he is gone?"

"Yes, thank God!"

"Are you crazy? He is still alive, he could easily come back and finish us off"

"He can't be unstoppable… hopefully the council will manage to kill him"

"I never liked him, not even as a kid… he was so…"

She couldn't take it, she stopped in the middle of the road and turned to the middle-aged women discussing the love of her life, tears on her eyes… "HE WAS SO WHAT?"

Both women stared at her with a baffled expression "COME ON… FINISH THAT SENTECE" one of them eventually got enough courage to speak and sighed "One day dear, the charm he put on you will fade away and you will see he was…."

"WHAT?!" the woman rose her face proudly and her mouth became a thin line "A monster, just as his brother was… nothing but a blood thirsty demon"

"You…" She turned and faced the people who were now staring at the scene "Fucking hypocrites!" the angry faces didn't take long to appear, but she was too far gone to care "So, as long as he burns stuff to save your sorry asses and he keeps his house away then you are ok!? Do you know how many times he was close to dying to make sure you stayed alive?"

"He is a demon!"

"Yeah! He should have died long ago"

She shook her head and fisted her hands "You should all be dead too!"

"How dare you!"

"She is still under his spell! Black magic for sure!"

"No… if he had died… you would be death too… or have you forgotten who has cleared out every dark cloud from this place?" there was silence "He fought dragons, his own brother, dark guilds, demons, and crazy people… he was punched, kicked and stabbed so many times that you can't count the scars on his body with your fingers" the villagers flinched, somewhere inside their mind knowing she had a point, most of them wouldn't be around without him "his blood has stained almost every square foot of this city and all of the others… he lost everything so many times"

She took a deep breath "He gave his life willingly for you and your families in countless occasions, and all you can think of is that at some point he was related to someone who was in so much pain that went crazy… you all abandoned him because you are weak… and I feel sorry for you"

The people just stared at her, still undecisive "He gave everything up… and the only way you thought of repaying him was to put him on trial for something you know nothing about… you don't deserve him…"

Just in that second she felt a hand on her back and pushed it away quickly before turning and seeing Gajeel behind her "Show's over! Get the fuck away you idiots" he pushed Lucy forward to force her to walk.

"What do you want Gajeel?"

"Levy was worried about you…" she sighed "Is that so?"

"Fine… we were worried about you"

"I don't need a babysitter" he shook his head "You shouldn't go home yet bunny… there's a mess outside, just give us a day or two and we'll have it all back to normal, you can stay at the guild of with me and Levy if you prefer"

"Nothing will ever be back to normal until he comes home" they walked in silence for a while until she asked "Did Metalicana ever tell you what it was like to lose a mate?"

"Mhm… yeah…" she looked up at him "So? What is it like?"

"I don't know… he said it was like falling into a black pit with no light to follow… like if all the happiness in the world was sucked away by something you couldn't see… like…"

"Like if your own life was sucked out of your body… your soul gone forever…" he nodded "Yeah… something like that"

"I think I'm going to die…"

"Come on bunny… don't say that" she looked serious and that concerned him deeply "I mean it… I don't feel anything but pain, I feel as if there was a flame inside me that will slowly die and take me with it…"

"He made sure that didn't happen, so the bond won't kill you anymore"

They walked until the house was visible, it looked the same from the front but as soon as she went to the back, she saw what they were talking about; it looked like the place had been consumed by sphere made of Lava, a perfect circle and everything beyond that was unaffected.

"Wha… he…"

"That's how he took Laxus and me out… I… fuck… why did I kneel, I should have stayed up for longer"

"It wouldn't have made a difference…" he gave her a strange look "Come on… a soulless Natsu, turned semi dragon… or demon or both, and that had been given some weird demonic fire?"

"So… you heard"

"Of course I did… you guys are too loud" She walked to the front of the house "Now, I need to be alone… you need to tell everyone to back off"

"Come on…"

"I mean it… I… really need to be alone, I'll be in the guild by noon" he nodded and walked away. Lucy went inside the house and heard small sobs coming from her bedroom, she walked inside and saw Happy crying on her bed and at that moment she couldn't contain her tears anymore.

"Lushy… where is he? Why didn't he take us with him?"

"We'll bring him bag Happy… you'll see"

She laid there holding him to her chest and they both cried until the small cat was so exhausted that he fell asleep. Lucy thought by this point she should have been dehydrated but the tears wouldn't stop.

After some time, she walked upstairs and used the key to open the room. She gasped in surprise for what laid before her eyes.

She walked inside and opened the curtains to reveal bookcase above bookcase with some of her books already there, some others were new, and she hadn't seen them before; in front of the window there was a black and gold telescope and next to it, her old desk with everything ready for her to write.

There was a small chest above her desk, similar to the one she used to put the letters she wrote to her mother in, but she new it wasn't the same, this one had the Fairy Tail emblem engraved at the top.

She stretched her hand and opened the lid, there were many envelopes with letters, small boxes with his horrible handwriting on them, Lucy reached out and grabbed the one on the top which had her name on it, she stared at it for a couple of minutes but couldn't gather the strength to open it.

Lucy went through the box and saw there were several letters there, not all to them for her, and this confirmed what she had known; Natsu knew this was coming and tried to prepare as much as possible for his departure. She was mad, the fire in her belly kept growing, how could he have done this to her? To them? Loving her every day, kissing her and making her need him so much if he knew it wouldn't last… but that's when she remembered…

The day she had forced him to face his feelings he had told her, he warned her so many times. Natsu said he couldn't promise to stay forever, he said he was sure he would lie and hurt her, and she had still managed to convince him to be with her.

Lucy had gone as far as to accept to live one day at a time and right now she hated herself for it, her own words resonated in her head _"Ok, so let's make a deal… you promised to stay today… so today I'm your girlfriend, same if you promise to stay tomorrow, sounds good?"_

"Stupid… so stupid…" she knew there was no time to dwell on her mistakes, so, she picked up the box and made her way to the guild, she knew if she wasn't there by noon then someone would come to look for her.

Crossing town through the main path was awkward but at least now people would remain quiet when she did. It didn't take long for her to reach the guild with the wooden chest and once she entered, she saw relieve on her friends' faces.

They all sat together but didn't make conversation, no one was in the mood to start it, let alone keep it up.

"Gather around brats!" Makarov sat on the stage this time, not his usual place on the bar and he waited for everyone to quiet down and look at him.

"I know we are all suffering… this is inevitable, as most of you know, Natsu knew there was a big possibility for things to go bad, I don't think he ever consider it would happen like this but he wasn't hopeful… he had been struggling with this for too long and had made arrangements… permanent arrangements"

There were a few whispers around, but as soon as the master raised his hand, they quiet down again. He took a large parchment from his coat and unfolded it, letting it fall on the ground.

"I Natsu Dragneel, Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail in full use of my capacities leave this as my irrevocable will… In the case of my death, expulsion or departure from the Fairy Tail guild, Master Makarov Dreyar will be in charge of executing it and delivering all items listed here to their destination"

"That Jackass!" Lucy turned and saw Gray on the back, Juvia was holding him by the shoulders and whispering to him while his fists trembled.

"I don't want to hear this…" Erza stood up and turned on her heal to leave when Lucy reached out and grabbed her hand "Please stay… I can't… please" she saw her friend barely holding her tears and nodded before taking her seat back.

"I'll skip the formalities and get to it… Lucy and Happy will keep the house and the land he spent all his life buying, the jewels however will be splitted… 20% will stay in the guild, 40% will be for Lucy and Happy which will be managed by Lucy, 10% for Erza, 10% for Gray, and finally 20% for Gajeel and Levy"

The room became too quiet, so quiet that every breath could be heard, every uncomfortable move on the chairs was noticed, even when gritting their teeth, the small noise cut through the unmoving crowd until Lucy stood up and placed the small wooden chest on the table. She opened it and started spreading all the items on it.

She grabbed the letter and the small box with her name and sat down, without saying a thing until Erza stood up and brushed her hands above the paper with her name on it "What…"

"He left that behind… for us" It didn't take long for the rest of the people to make their way to the table, each of them finding something for them, not all of them got a letter of course, but everyone got a note containing something relevant for them.

Erza opened the small box with her name, it had a pair of black hair combs; she brushed her thumb on the small flame looking details that contained shiny red stones, she read her letter and bit her lip… he mentioned those were for her Flame Empress armor and that the stones were made to enhance her fire power, but that's all she would mention to her friends, the rest of the letter was just for her.

Juvia had to open the box for Gray, his hands kept shaking with a mix of anger and sadness and he couldn't do it; there was a black steel bracelet there, once she inspected it, she saw the same red-looking material on its inside. Finally, he took the letter and opened it, five words into it and he was already containing his tears, although he couldn't use fire, the bracelet would allow him to be fairly protected for a small time, not too much but enough to give him a chance to fight, he also decided to keep the rest of the information for himself, not even Juvia got to read it.

Gajeel took his things and left without saying a word, he was not willing to show his feelings on this situation and became too overwhelmed to deal with it, he left slamming the door because for him it was easier to show anger than sadness.

Erza sat next to Lucy and held her hand "Did you open it?" she shook her head and leaned on her friend's shoulder "I don't know if I want to…"

"Why?" Lucy let a few tears escape "I feel as if opening it would mean I'm accepting that he is gone…"

"This is something he wanted us to have Lucy…" Just in that moment Gray sat on the other side of Lucy, Juvia by his side and she could feel it… the love and support that she had always wanted from a family, she had it and it wasn't going anywhere.

She opened the box, fearful of what she would find and once she did her small sobs became thick heavy tears. Erza gasped and hugged her tightly and Gray simply stared at the thing his best friend had left behind.

Lucy didn't know how to feel about it, of all of the things he could have chosen to leave behind for her, he had to choose a ring… a beautiful gold band ring. It wasn't traditional; instead of a regular setting and prongs there was what looked like a dragon claw that held a red ruby in the middle, the shank was entwined with one bright side and the other pale.

She opened the letter, now more fearful than before hoping for it to be just a token of his affection

 _"Luce,_

 _There aren't enough words to describe what you mean to me… you made me open my eyes to so many things I didn't realize existed, because of you I know there's beauty in the world and things can never go back to what they were because every time I look at the stars I see your bright eyes, every time I feel the wind it carries your scent, every time I open my eyes the colors seem brighter than before because you gave me something I thought I could never have… hope in the future._

 _I got this for you long ago… when I first realized I loved you. I saw it one day while you looked for a new key and thought one day I would give it to you, one day when I was brave enough to say you were like oxygen to me… one day when I had the courage to tell you I couldn't live without you… one day… one day… but by the time I was brave enough it was too late._

 _I'm sorry… for not being strong enough to stop this, for not being strong enough for staying away from you, I'm sorry for complicating your life and making you cry…_

 _I want you to be happy, keep this and remember me, but don't give up on life… find someone that's good for you, unlike me… someone that doesn't break everything that he touches, someone that can see that the sun shines because of your smile, someone that is not stupid like I am._

 _I didn't deserve to be with you forever, someone like me can't deserve someone like you… I love you Luce, and I'll always be by your side._

 _Love, Natsu"_

* * *

Natsu woke up completely soaked with sweat, he couldn't breath and the pain on his chest was too big to ignore, he could barely catch his breath and suddenly a golden light lighten the room.

"Natsu!" Mal sat on the bed and grabbed his shoulders "Deep breaths, look at me" he was trying, he really was, but something inside of him felt like pushing against his heart, it was almost as if that emptiness he felt inside his chest was devouring everything else.

"I… What..." Mal grabbed his chin and made him look at him "You are ok" there they were, those words again… he didn't like those words because he knew no one could ever promise he would be ok, but strangely he couldn't find that horrible feeling he had before when listening to those exact same words.

"How did you know?" Natsu placed his hand above his heart trying to control his rhythm but it was useless "I'll always know… you made a blood contract with me, I promised to protect you"

"Well, that's a stupid promise…" Mal stared at him and frowned "I will keep you safe, no matter the cost"

"Why?..." Mal frowned and was about to stand up when Natsu grabbed his arm "I asked you a question…"

"Your father… he…" Mal sighed and covered his face with his hands "Phrix knew I wouldn't die so easily… he had to sacrifice my blood to the gods to gain my strength and he knew my master would bring me back… as he always does… but he couldn't do it" he looked away "He said I deserved a life like everyone else… and I felt happy, for the first time in eons… I did what he asked me to do and when I came back, he was death… I had failed to keep him safe because the only thing he asked for me was to live life… and you had died, and your brother had gone mad… I had failed to protect him and the blood that followed and now I have the chance to do it again"

"But I didn't sacrifice your blood either…"

"No… you did something even greater… you offered me yours to save someone else, someone who's life was about to be claimed"

"I… need to take a walk" the golden knight nodded and bowed before disappearing. Natsu got off the bed and walked outside his room, he passed his family's rooms and he stood outside Aporia's library.

There was something about a library that calmed him down and although it was obvious why, his head was so messed up he couldn't recognize it. He reached out and turned the knob to enter the room, he closed the door behind him and once he heard it click, he turned and faced the bookshelves in front of him.

"What the fuck…" the entire library was covered with books identical to the one Lucy had found, it had the same horrid smell of the Dragon who had taken his parents, only this time he felt nothing when facing it, he grabbed a random one but the language was too complicated for him, he could only flip through the images and there weren't many.

The first image he saw was all covered in darkness, it seemed to be a small child, dark long hair and spreading his or her arms to the sky towards the moon but nothing else, all the drawings were similar except the child seemed bigger in every one, and more things would appear aside from the moon; a circle beneath the child, some stars, a few stones.

He took a second one, it showed several other beings, filled with light each one surrounded by something different, lighting, fire, darkness, trees. He finally found one that stroke a cord… not that he would know what it stroked but it did move something within. There was a house, a small child with pink hair laying on the floor being held by a dark hair figure, slightly bigger than the first.

Natsu felt the need to close it, he didn't know why but there was something inside screaming for him to leave the room, but instead of listening to it he kept flipping pages.

The next drawing was of the same house, completely torn; there were two bodies scattered on the floor, almost in pieces and a tall, dark haired woman standing next to one of them with a box, he couldn't be sure, but it seemed to be putting something inside not bothering to clean her bloody hands.

He slammed the book on the table and returned to his room, something felt wrong about that, but he didn't know what it was.

* * *

Lucy returned home, still dragging her feet. She went to her room and changed clothes but it was just muscle memory, her mind was far away; she turned to face her bed and that's when she saw the clothes and blankets on the floor she picked them and brought them closer to her face… it smelled like him, like cinnamon and a night on the woods, like a campfire and trees and that very special smell he had that no one else did.

That's when her eye caught sight of the floor. Lucy knelt in front of the charcoaled handprints and laid her hands above them "Why did I not push?... I knew something was off! Why didn't I push!?" more tears came, and she covered her face with one hand while her body kept shaking "So stupid! I was in such a rush to get on a dress and put on makeup that I didn't notice!"

There was a glow in the room and in no time Loke was there with her "Get out…"

"I felt you in distress princess" she huffed "Now he feels me in distress…"

"Lucy… come on talk to me"

"I asked you yesterday to leave me alone…"

"Why won't you talk to me!?"

"You weren't there Loke!" he looked to the floor in shame "I know… but listen"

"NO… you open your own door whenever you want! You use it when you are bored of the spirit world but when I needed you the most…"

"Please let me explain!" Lucy wouldn't have it; her pain was too much and even if he had something to say she didn't want to listen "No… I am tired of people explaining their reasons for hurting me and leaving me"

"Lucy please!"

"Leave me alone… please…" she hugged her legs and leaned on the bed "I just want to be left alone…" The leader of the zodiac felt his heart breaking… he wanted to explain why no one came to help but at this point that wouldn't change the fact that for some reason no one had been there to help Natsu.

"We tried to cross… we all did!" she looked up to see him, tears on his eyes, his lip trembling "Do you really think any of us would feel you in so much pain and ignore it?" she was silent for a terrifying amount of time when Happy's voice startled them both.

"Why couldn't you cross?" the small cat sat on the bed and cleaned his face with the back of his paw "All doors were shut… and when I say shut, I mean even the king tried to open them for us"

"That's not possible… those are his gates"

"Lucy I swear, we did everything! We practically used all our magic and none of them would budge"

"Why… why would that happen?" he looked to the floor and bit his lip "That… can only mean someone bigger and stronger than us combined didn't want the intervention"

"Who's bigger than the zodiac and their king?!"

"Gods Lucy… Gods are"

She stared at him in disbelief "Gods?..." he nodded "I don't know what happened… the king is upset, and he constantly mumbles about "Them" messing with his realm, but he doesn't really say much… I'm so sorry you felt alone… I'm sorry we weren't there"

That's when it hit her "We need to go"

"We can't go after Natsu, you need to understand" she shook her head "No, I'll go after him when the right time comes but right now, we have nothing to go off on, so we are leaving… are you coming?"

"Are you kidding me? I am never leaving your side again…"

They left the house at a fast pace, Lucy being the only one that knew where they were going until the scenery seemed too familiar for Loke to ignore "He is going to be angry if you wake him up"

She knocked on the black steel frame door repeatedly for three full minutes until she heard someone stumbling "FOR FUCKS SAKE! WHEN I SAID YOU COULD STAY WITH US, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD DECIDE EARLIER WOMAN!" Gajeel opened the door in nothing but his boxers, his hair messier than usual and his eyes barely open.

"I need Levy"

"Can't you need her before 3 in the morning!?"

"GAJEEL!" he flinched and turned to the stairs where Levy was standing wearing his oversized shirt and some tiny shorts "She can come here at whatever time she needs to!"

"Levy! The diary… I need you to get the diary" she nodded and went back upstairs to get the book quickly before making her way to the table where everyone was sitting.

"You said there were a lot of mythology names in the book, right?" she nodded "Ok… I'm going to need lots of paper, markers and coffee if you are up for it"

For the first time in the last couple of days, Levy saw fire and determination in Lucy's eyes and she felt relief washing over her worries. She had been scared, Lucy loved with all her heart, but she had never loved as she did Natsu and she wasn't sure her friend would be willing to move on after he left.

"I'm always up for it Lu. Babe… make some coffee! We are going to need it" Gajeel slammed his hand on his face and growled but moved to the kitchen and started moving things with unnecessary noise to show he was annoyed.

"OK… according to Loke, all the spirit doors were shut, they couldn't come through"

"How's that even possible?" Lucy signaled Loke to continue and he shrugged "I don't have much information, what I do know is it would require someone extremely powerful to do so, not a mage… It could be a God, but who knows"

"Bullshit" Gajeel came out of the kitchen with some cups "God doesn't exist, that's just some tale people tell others to keep them hopeful"

"Ahem… that's not exactly accurate but I didn't mean God… like not the current social construct of what God is at least" Levy blinked a couple of times "Ok… so it's God but it's not God?"

"I said it could be **A** God… I mean… you know… an ancient one"

"I call bullshit again…" Levy smacked his arm "Could you please shut up?... Ok Loke… someone you have in mind?"

He shook his head "I don't even know what happened here, I could feel Lucy's pain, and when I was able to open my gate and kind of figured out some stuff and that Natsu was gone… I know she almost died but that's about it"

Lucy didn't have all the details, so she looked at Levy and Gajeel, they stared at each other before he started to tell them everything from beginning to end. She knew it had been bad but hearing all the details of how Natsu had ripped Merryl's heart and lost himself in darkness because she was dying was too much.

"And then those weird people showed up, and they helped Natsu bring you back… even one of them warned him not to do it but Salamander wouldn't listen"

"Yeah… it seemed that weird golden knight and the woman had a difference of opinion, he sure made an entrance" Levy rested her back on the chair and sighed "What do you mean Levy?"

"Well Loke, that's going to be hard to explain… Natsu had this bright stone and he… amm… summoned him I guess, but it almost seemed as if the sky opened up with light and fire and then he came" Loke's eyes widen and his mouth fell open "He didn't look human at first"

"The golden ram…" they turned to Loke and blinked in confusion "I don't know him, I don't think any of us do… maybe Aries when she was young but that's about it… if what you are saying is true then we may be in deeper shit than we thought"

"Why?" Lucy stiffened on her chair "I guess you could say he is also a celestial spirit… but a higher one, they are not attached to keys but to precious stones or elements and they don't need to be attached to a Celestial Mage"

"Why did I not know this?"

"Because they don't make contracts with people, they haven't in ages!" Loke took a deep breath "They can only make contracts with someone that can match their strength, someone they can respect… and it is THAT hard for them to find someone, so they just stopped looking for it, people would just die when they tried"

"Well Natsu didn't die, he lost his soul"

"Lucy that's not how a contract works" Gajeel slammed his hand against the table "Well this one did! I saw straight in his eyes and believe me… that was not Salamander. He was one person and then he gave his blood away and did some sort of weird… thing to call some weird fire!"

"Wait what?" the celestial spirit looked confused "That's not… I don't know why he would do that…"

"Well someone has to know; do you think Grampa Crux will be in a sharing mood today?" Loke scratched his chin "Well… this isn't zodiac related so maybe, but he may not be able to say much"

"Open, Gate of the Southern Cross!" in no time an elder looking spirit appeared in front of them, his head was a giant metal cross with floral-like golden patters covered only by his white moustache.

"Lucy!" she smiled "Grampa Crux! I need your help… what can you tell me about a higher spirit, the golden ram and how me makes his contracts"

At the mention of it, Crux stiffened "Oh dear… I'm not sure I can be much help on that" he saw Lucy's pleading face and sighed, he closed his eyes and fell asleep for the longest time ever, and then he woke up.

"Chrysomallos, the golden ram… he is one of the strongest of its kind and one of Mars' favorites, I don't know much other than he bargains with commitments more commonly than contracts, and he hasn't made a successful contract in over a thousand years… until now"

"He seems to be contracted with Natsu" Crux nodded at Loke "But his contract was different, they say he gave his blood" he elder spirit widen his eyes "A blood contract… that's… impossible"

"What does that mean?"

"It's an exchange… that would mean the spirit is willing to give his life for him" Loke scrunched his nose "Aren't we all?"

"This is not the same, when we sacrifice ourselves, we go back to the spirit world and recover, a blood contract implies definitive death… your master sacrifices their own blood to the point of dying and in exchange you connect your life force with his, this can only be undone by natural death"

"Why would he do that for Natsu?" Lucy looked at Crux but he shook his hand "You know as well as I do that the amount of information I can share about that is limited…"

"Please Grampa Crux! This is Natsu we are talking about…" he sighed and shook his head "I'm sorry child, but I cannot break the rules, not even for you" in a second, Crux disappeared into silver light and the group was left even more confused than before.

"We need to find him…" She was determined and although that excited her friends it also worried them, Gajeel was the first one to break the silence after that "Even if we could… what makes you think he is the same Natsu you want? You didn't see him out there"

"I don't care… he is whoever he needs to be right now, and I know that no matter what happens he will come back to us"

They were scared to be hopeful, the mix between fear and excitement was more than overwhelming but they had to make a decision. If they decided to support her, they risked everything they loved, if they didn't, the place they called home would never be the same because grieve would consume it.

"I'll follow you princess… no matter where you go" Lucy held Loke's hand and smiled at him before returning to her friends "I am not asking you to follow me… you guys just started your lives together and I don't want to…"

"How many times am I supposed to call bullshit today? It's becoming tiring…" She opened her mouth to respond but was shut down by the dragon slayer "Even if I wanted to let you go by yourself, I wouldn't be able to… idiot salamander made me promise to keep you safe even if it was from him, and aside from the fact that I don't want to break that promise, I can't" there was shame in his eyes, she could tell he still hadn't made peace with the fact Natsu had made him kneel.

The Fire Dragon slayer had beaten him many times before, not that he would ever admit it, but he was strong, and no matter how many broken bones he had or how much blood he spilled, that was never enough to stop him, but his pride was still wounded because in the ultimate fight, the one where they had prepared, trained, and planned… they couldn't do a single thing against him.

Levy laid her head on his arm and smiled "So, where do we start Lu?" Gajeel pushed her away and stood up from his chair "You! Listen to me shrimp, you stay here"

Levy stood up on the chair, so she could meet his eyes "You've got to be kidding me! I am going with you and that's the end of this discussion, if you think you are going to leave this town without me I can assure you that I'll place so many runes in this house that you won't be able to leave the place you are standing on right now!"

"Shrimp…"

"Nope! If you die, I'll die anyways, so… there's no reason for you to keep me here" Gajeel sat down and crossed his arms above his chest "Tsk… how can someone so tiny be this stubborn…"

* * *

By the time Natsu woke up, Helle was already laying on his bed looking at the ceiling "Morning!" he rolled his eyes "Mornin'… what are you doing in my bed?"

"I'm waking you up for breakfast" he rubbed his face and sighed before standing up to leave the room "Are you not going to change?"

"Why would I do that?" Natsu looked at his reflection in the mirror… scales, claws, wings… if he didn't look like a monster before, he did now.

"I'm sure if you try, you can make those go away until you need them" she smiled at him and held his hand, it was still weird for him, but he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to focus as much as possible on going back to his regular self.

He could feel the wings receding while he kept his focus and when he opened his eyes, he looked just like himself, no scales, claws or wings… as far as he could tell his eyes were the only difference. The shiny amber orbs kept staring back reminding him that things were not back to normal.

Natsu went to his closet and took a sleeveless coat, pants and boots before walking with Helle to the dining area. He sat at the head of the table, opposite to Aporia.

"Where's Mal?"

"He never joins us"

"Hmm… Mal…" in a couple of seconds the knight was standing behind Natsu expectantly "Did you call?"

"Sit down and have some breakfast with us…" he nodded and took the chair closest to him "So, Aporia… you have an interesting library"

"It is quite interesting… and private" he saw the opportunity and took it without hesitation "Oh but you said this was my home, and you did the whole prince charade for quite some time, so why wouldn't I be welcome there?"

Nephele and Helle didn't say a thing, it was almost as if their eyes were set on their plates, unmoving; they simply straightened their backs against the chairs and kept eating "We all deserve our private spaces child"

"Of course we all do… Funny coming from you though"

"Natsu!" This time Helle was the one to react "What? Don't tell me you were not spying on me and invading my privacy" he pointed his finger at the water nymph "We said no bullshit"

"Fine, we did" Aporia had placed both hands on her lap and was staring at him without hesitation "We were trying to protect you… It's not the same"

"Oh, I'm sorry… so watching me with…" he couldn't say her name, it was almost as if the mere sound of her name coming from his mouth could disgrace it, the emptiness in his chest became bigger every time he tried, and it felt as if the air got thinner "…with her… wasn't an invasion to my privacy?"

"Ok… fine you have a point, but still… there are limits in this house we should respect, and I am still your grandmother"

"Sure you are… it's not as if I grew up by myself and was raised by someone else" he rolled his eyes and the awkwardness on the table became too big to ignore "There's one thing that I really… really want to know… how… did one of your books ended up in Fukuro Tatsuma's house"

"That's complicated" he relaxed his shoulders and rested his back on the chair "Then uncomplicate it" the silence lasted for a minute before a tall well-built guard went inside the room "Madam…" he placed some papers above the table and left without any additional comments.

"How wonderful… we've received positive responses for some of the unregistered guilds"

"You mean the dark guilds? Why are they sending responses, what did we ask?" she smiled and stood up before walking towards him and caressing his head "Support of course… I told them you are here with us now, they know about your incredible transition and most are willing to join us in our mission"

Natsu nodded "Ok, when are we starting?" Mal frowned and got closer to Natsu "Are you going to ask what the mission is?"

"Does it matter?... even If I do, grams here seems to have everything figured out… So…" Mal frowned, he had looked over Natsu many times without his knowledge, he owed Phrixus that much, but seeing him now, not caring, not feeling a single thing made him wonder if this was a fate worse than death itself.

Aporia took her glass and stared right at Natsu "We have a couple guilds that say they will join us in less than a week, a couple think you are a… how should we call it… False prophet? And have decided to break their alliance with us"

"Tell me a bit more about them…"

"Well… this one" she pulled a paper from the stack "It's called "Noctis Infima" they are an assassin guild which has been under the council's radar for quite some time… this other one "Luna Sanguis" is really a low-level guild, they mostly specialize in blood sacrifices…"

Natsu smiled… once again this was not a pleasant smile; his canines showed entirely while his eyes narrowed in amusement and without much thought he looked up to the ceiling "I guess we need to make an example out of them… don't we?..."

That's how it started; Natsu and his people appeared in front of Noctis Infirma and before the guild could react the fires of hell burnt their doors immediately turning them into ashes.

The new king walked as if he owned the place while his own body temperature kept every single person on the floor hoping for their lives to be spared, he took a look at them and huffed before igniting his body in a way that had never been seen before.

"It's the Salamander!" a man screamed from the floor; Aporia walked closed and grabbed the man's face "You will address the king with the proper respect" the man shuddered and looked up to see Natsu's empty eyes before bowing.

"My lord! I beg you… we didn't know if the rumors were true, we will do anything to earn your forgiveness"

Natsu nodded "What would you be willing to do?" a couple of man rounded their leader with pleading looks "Anything! Name it and it shall be yours"

"Very well… so if I asked for you to kill all the children in your guild… would you do it?" the children cried and held on to their parent's legs hiding themselves "Natsu…" Mal walked and placed his hand on his master's shoulder, however he was signaled to step back.

The parents who were still standing in their position suddenly threw the kids on the middle of the room "You can have them, we can always make more children as long as we are alive… we have earned our place here, they haven't"

The group of men got closer to the kids, their poor tiny bodies shook while trying to hold on to each other. There eldest one was about 10 and he placed himself before all the rest trying to cover them with his own body while he observed their adored leader reaching out; he closed his eyes wishing for the moment to be over but was startled by a scream of pain.

"Woah… you were actually going to do it? You are a total piece of shit…" Natsu was holding on to the now burnt and broken wrist of the man while he knelt "My Lord, but you said…"

"I asked if you would do it… I see you and your people are more than willing to…" he threw the man against one of the cement columns, a cracking sound echoed through the guild as the man's spine broke on impact, leaving a splash of red as his body fell to the ground.

He pointed at the kid protecting the rest "These people… they aren't your family, do you understand that? They would be willing to sacrifice you if it meant their survival, they are worthless…" he looked over his shoulder "Helle… Mal… take the kids away" they simply nodded and pull them out of the building without saying a word.

They wouldn't go down without a fight and as soon as they realized what was about to happen each and every one of them used the entirety of their magic to try to escape, some realized right away that it was a lost cause and decided to beg for their lives, they sworn their loyalty to him but he didn't care anymore.

For him, this was not a challenge, they didn't even match the weakest member of Fairy Tail and he wondered how they had been allowed to carry on with their business when they lacked the strength, in his mind there was no doubt the corrupted council had something to do with it; every thought made him angrier and so, he unleashed his force and there was no mercy for them; by the time he finished the bodies of his victims were nothing more than ashes, just as their guild.

His heath had been so impressive that there wasn't a trace of blood, everything liquid had evaporated, everything that once had life seemed to have vanished. He returned to his so-called family who guarded the children as instructed.

The kids turned their face and flinched when he approached; Natsu looked at his hands and hissed, his claws and scales had come back. He took a deep breath and concentrated in going back to his more human form which turned to be harder than before, concentrating while people observed, and the kids cried was no easy task.

One he was able to, he crouched next to the eldest child. "Oi… you ok?" the kid opened his eyes and gave him an angry look but didn't reply. Muscle memory caused Natsu to frown "What?"

The kid stood up, straightened his back and pumped his chest out "I am not going to let you hurt them!" Natsu rose his eyebrow and tilted his head "I wasn't planning to" the kid gave him a confused look and relaxed his hands, he noticed right away that his captor looked human now which made it easier for him to stare "They got what they deserved kid… they killed people for money and they were willing to sacrifice you for their pathetic lives… you on the other hand… you are just kids"

"So… what's going to happen to us?" Natsu stood up "For now… you'll come with us until we find a place where you can be taken care of… What's your name?"

The kid relaxed completely, he couldn't find the hint of a lie in Natsu's eyes… he was still frightened for the lack of emotion, but he knew, if he had the intention of hurting them, he would have done it already "M-Miko…"

Natsu stretched his hand as if it was nothing "Well, I am Natsu… nice to meet you" although he was hesitant at first, they shook hands and soon the rest of the kids stood up and walked towards them, there were only four aside from Miko, and all below the age of 6.

Once they returned home the kids were shown to their new accommodations and received new clothes, they moved hesitantly as if expecting for catastrophe to strike.

"What are we planning on doing with these kids?" Natsu stared at Nephele as if she had a second head "Well… feeding them for once, we need a larger table"

"Come on… you can't possibly think I'm going to believe you don't have a plan for them"

"I plan on letting them be kids, may I remind you IF we have had someone saving us… Zeref and I wouldn't have ended up as screwed up as we did"

"I see… so you feel sorry for them?" he sighed and looked up "I don't feel a thing… but I believe this is what I would have done when I did… so, larger table? We need to accommodate five more people here" he signaled with his index and thumb while squinting "You know, little people".

By lunch time, it was all set up… for once Natsu had been the first one to arrive and chose the seat at the head of the table while Mal brought the kids to him, he stood up once everyone entered the room.

"Ok… Mal you are on my right, all the dysfunctional scary family sits next to you" Helle didn't hide her giggles, the kids on the other hand did cover their mouths to avoid being the center of attention; Aporia and Nephele simply rolled their eyes in annoyance "Miko you on my left and the rest of the kids sit next to you"

They followed instructions and soon food was served on the table. Chicken, mash potatoes, pasta, salad and cake were placed on big bowls and plates in the center and as the mistress of the castle for many years, Aporia reached our first but stopped when Natsu cleared his throat.

"Miko… why don't you go ahead and get the plates for the rest of the kids?"

"W-we can wait sir" the dragon slayer flinched "Sir? Geez kid I ain't that old, just use my name… and as I said, you can go first and get the food for your friends" Miko smiled shyly and nodded before getting the plates for the four younger kids and serving them while Aporia entwined her fingers and stared at Natsu.

This was amusing for Mal at least who immediately helped the kids serve their food while smiling "Mhm… you are your father's son… that's for sure" that soften Aporia and Nephele immediately and caused them both to curl their lips upward.

Natsu thought he should have felt something at that comment, pride, nostalgia, sadness… something anything really but nothing came to him. Sure, he had very few memories of his parents and his mind was mixed between past and present but that didn't mean before he didn't feel longing.

"I'll take your word for it" he sat down and nodded an Miko "So squirt… you are old enough to use magic now, right?" the kids looked at each other and then down hiding their disappointment "they don't know how yet, I know a bit… not much really I have a good aim but that's it"

"Aim? You use magic weapons?" the kid nodded "Magic… non-magic, I wanted to learn something else, but no one was interested in teaching, the one time a tried…" Natsu sensed something changed in the environment, he recognized the look on the kid's face, pain and anger for sure. Natsu pointed his finger at the child "Look I don't know how long you'll stay, and I am the shittiest teacher BUT, I'll help you out; you know back home I had these friends who used magic weapons… the best of their kind really"

The kids smiled at him, they were not afraid and that caused him to think they had seen worst in their guild.

Once lunch was over Natsu pulled his chair out "Now… while you stay here you can do as you wish, just try not to break stuff… we don't want the lady of the house to have a heart attack, ok?" This time when the kids giggled, they didn't try to hide it. Natsu had always been good with kids, people often told him it was probably because he acted like a kid himself and although he still felt as if he was wearing someone else's skin, he could at least use his memories to make them comfortable; if he had pretended to be ok for so long, pretending to be warmer at least with them would be no challenge.

He returned to his room to rest, only the place wasn't silent anymore, it was filled with small giggles, running steps, loud laughter and for a second, he allowed the sounds to fill his head and his lip curled upward because it felt a bit more like home, which surprised him a little.

The was a knock on his door and the smell immediately let him know who it was "Come in Miko"

"How did you know!?" Natsu sat up on the bed "I have the best nose in the world squirt" the kid came a bit closer, not too much but since the Dragon slayer was shirtless, he was able to see the scars on his front "Where did you get those?"

He pointed at the one on his face "This one I got fighting my brother… he was… not a very nice guy for some time… this one" he pointed at the one above his hip bone "I fought a big ass demon for this one"

Miko got brave and crawled on Natsu's bed, he stretched his hand and although Natsu flinched a bit, the kid touched his neck "How about this one?"

"That… I got the day my parents died… the day I … it's a bit of a long story but, I am here, and I guess that's what matters". Miko nodded and pulled up his shirt, reveling numerous tiny scars "I have some too, this one near my belly is from when I was too slow to dodge mama, this one on my chest is from one time I got sloppy and almost made pops get caught"

"What do you mean?" the kid bit his lip and tensed his shoulders "I…"

"You know I won't bite… what's on your mind?"

"You said you were letting us go because we did nothing wrong… but I did" Natsu could tell the kid was scared again and so he gave him time to compose himself "I was supposed to make sure we didn't leave a trail, you know… to clean after it was all done…"

"Oh… you mean like footprints and stuff like that?" He was hoping that was as much as the kid had seen "Yeah… that and… you know… the blood, whatever was left of… the bodies"

"Shit… Look at me…" Miko slowly rose his face to meet Natsu's eyes "That was not your fault, you had crappy parents, a crappy guild and you had to do something to survive… I for once can't judge that. What I can tell you is those times are gone and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again" it was sudden and unexpected, the kid simply jumped and hugged Natsu tightly before crying on his shoulder and he felt… there was a small warmth inside of him that tried to spread and wasn't able too, but in that moment that was enough to prove he was still alive somewhere inside.

* * *

It didn't take more than a day for the newspapers to get ahold of the story, although there were no witnesses left, Aporia had made sure the news spread. The cover read "The Heir of Darkness" every single member of Fairy Tail had a copy and were in shock.

As the story went, the new unnamed demon lord had sent an invite to the dark guilds and had attacked the one who refused to serve under him annihilating every single member… men, women, and children, there were a few pictures of what was left of the building which wasn't much.

"Impossible!" Lucy's angry scream filled the guild "Natsu would NEVER hurt a kid, come on!"

"I'm with Lu on this one, he loves kids! I mean come on… see how he related to Wendy and Romeo and how much he loves Asuka!"

"Sure, sure, Salamander the father figure" Gajeel rolled his eyes and was once again smacked on the back of his head by his tiny wife "I am not saying he is a role model, we all know he is reckless! But still… do you really see him killing a kid?"

"I don't know anymore… but I want to think he wouldn't" their train of thought was interrupted by the Master's voice "Gather up brats!" he waited for everyone to gather around the bar "We have a decision to make, and I for once will not make it by myself… last I made this choice we got nothing out of it"

They sensed the seriousness and settled while they waited for their master to speak, but it was too hard for the old man, Laxus sat next to him and placed his hand above his grandfather's.

"We've been warned that by tomorrow… the council will go public with the fact that Natsu is the one they are talking about, it would also mean Fairy Tail will be judged by the people, the council, and the entirety of the magic community"

MiraJane dropped the mug she was cleaning while Cana put aside her glass, everyone remained in silence before Makarov continued "This mean we are facing a choice… we either disband again and you brats can look for new guilds among our friends, or… the council will change our guild status, making us a dark guild"

"That's bullshit!"

"They can't do that!"

"Listen up! The best thing for you kids would be to find a new place to go… some of you have done it before! This is no different!"

Lucy stood up "It's different… you know they won't stop there… our friends from other guilds will also be affected if we look for shelter with them! Not only that but the council won't stop there! They're aim has always been to bring us down!"

"I know…" Makarov looked down "This is a decision we all need to make together… and we don't have too much time, so… everyone will be allowed to give their opinion and submit their decision by 6 PM today, once we have made up our minds, we'll decide what our next move will be"

As the hours went by, more people approached the box on top of the bar and wrote their response with a magic pen inside. The waiting was killing Lucy and the tic toc of the clock inside her head started matching her heartbeat, her palms were sweaty, and she felt as if she could barely breath, but she knew… even if the guild disbanded, she wouldn't give away her mark unless they ripped her arm altogether.

"I know I don't need to ask what you chose" Gajeel let himself fall on the chair next to her "You know it… did you guys?..."

"I've been in bad guilds before bunny… I don't mind being called the bad guy" he gave her a toothy grin that calmed her aching heart and she felt thin arms wrapping on her from behind "I'll follow both of you wherever you go Lu!"

"Aye!" Happy landed on Lucy's arms and hugged her "We are family Lushy! That doesn't go away just because some stupid council decided it!"

They were soon joined by Erza, Gray and Juvia who nodded at her. Gray had seen Lucy as a sister for a long time and he wasn't planning on leaving her side "Loke, did you vote too?"

"Of course I did… I am after all a guild member and I voted to stay as a guild… the council can't tell us who or what we are"

"Good… we did the same" Lucy smiled at them "Thank you guys…"

"So… what's the plan to get flame-brain back?" the group stayed quiet for a couple of seconds "Come on Lucy… we've been partners for enough time for me not to buy the "We'll let things be" charade, also you all came in together which was so not suspicious… so… what's the plan?"

"I… we…" she puffed her cheeks "Dammit Gray… fine… we don't have a plan yet, but we will be going after him once we have all the information"

"We may not have time to do that Lucy" Erza who had been quiet rested her elbows on the table "If we are forced to leave the guild before tomorrow, we will be on the road trying to hide ourselves… and that would mean safe and quiet moments will be rare"

"Have you contacted Jellal yet?" Erza blushed "I… have… he said he would make it to Magnolia by nighttime and help with whatever we require"

"Wow… I didn't think you would actually do it" Gray knew how Erza felt about the blue haired mage, but he also knew the communication and self-awareness on those two was extremely poor"

She bit her lip "Weeell… If I'm being honest it has to do with that letter Natsu left for me…" she smiled and blushed "He said something that really got me thinking about s-some stuff and… you know…"

The doors of the office slammed open reveling Makarov and Laxus; they wore a serious expression which didn't tell them much.

"You kids have decided…" it was only a two second silence, but it felt as if time itself had stopped "I don't know if while raising you I did something extremely good, or extremely bad… but Fairy Tail will remain together until there's not a single one of us standing! Prepare your things brats… we leave at midnight!"


	33. Chapter 33

Hi awesome people! so, fair warning, this chapter is set in 3 weeks so it goes fast, this is because the following chapters will revisit stuff that happens during those weeks, also this is a LONG Chapter.

Hope y'all are good! all my love!

-A

* * *

"We are all just illusions of what we want the world to believe about us, no one even begins to assume what lurks below my surface, not even my best friends. ~Callum~"  
―

* * *

"Have you contacted Jellal yet?" Erza blushed "I… have… he said he would make it to Magnolia by nighttime and help with whatever we require"

"Wow… I didn't think you would actually do it" Gray knew how Erza felt about the blue haired mage, but he also knew the communication and self-awareness on those two was extremely poor"

She bit her lip "Weeell… If I'm being honest it has to do with that letter Natsu left for me…" she smiled and blushed "He said something that really got me thinking about s-some stuff and… you know…"

The doors of the office slammed open reveling Makarov and Laxus; they wore a serious expression which didn't tell them much.

"You kids have decided…" it was only a two second silence, but it felt as if time itself had stopped "I don't know if while raising you I did something extremely good, or extremely bad… but Fairy Tail will remain together until there's not a single one of us standing! Prepare your things brats… we leave at midnight!"

* * *

It had been a couple of days with the kids around the castle, they made themselves right at home and although for some of the other members of his so called 'Family' it had been weird, for him it was simply soothing; he got into his new routine quite quickly. They would have breakfast together, Miko was comfortable enough to take minor verbal jabs at everyone at the table, and the kids would often laugh at whatever he said.

Natsu would either join the child in the teasing or put him back in place as soon as he saw the atmosphere switch to something dangerous; for some reason, Miko reminded him to an odd mix of Gray and Gajeel, cool exterior and big mouth, fast on his feet and incredibly clever.

After breakfast the kids would rest a bit before a short training session with Mal who had refused to train at first, but it took Natsu giving him the stink eye for him to sigh and agree. It wasn't serious training, but it did help them focus and get rid of some of the excess energy. Then lunch time came and during the afternoon Natsu would spend some time with them, talking about magic whenever he wasn't busy raiding rogue guilds or welcoming the new ones who didn't take long to start knocking on their doors.

It was one of those days; he had placed some targets outside the castle and sat with the kids on the floor.

"Magic is mostly moved by what you have here" he pointed as his center, when suddenly Neri, a pretty five-year-old with orange hair and green eyes raised her hand "You don't have to raise your hand, this ain't school kiddo"

She smiled and nodded "Is it like when you get a tummy ache?" he rose his eyebrow and thought this would definitely be harder than he anticipated, but understood that him touching his belly could have confused her "Er… no, it's more like… you know when… amm… dammit…" the kids laughed and he huffed in annoyance "It's not your tummy exactly… you know that sensation you get here, when you are very happy, sad or angry?" they kids nodded "Magic is very similar… it comes from within and so, when your emotions run deep so does your magic"

"How does your magic feel?" This time it was Teiga, although he was taller than what a six-year-old should be, he was thin due to his parents' neglect; his brown hair covered his shy small hazel eyes "It… felt warm" his confused expression matched the kids face perfectly "Does it not feel warm anymore?"

Natsu didn't have a good answer for that, of course… fire would feel warm but there was a quality on his magic that had changed after bringing Lucy back and he couldn't figure it out; Miko immediately realized something wasn't quite right and decided to intervene.

"Ooookay! Who wants to practice?" the eldest kid winked at Natsu when the kids stood up excitedly; the fire dragon slayer's mouth curled upwards a bit, not too much to be noticeable and he gave a slight nod to the ten-year-old.

"Fine, fine… but you don't even know what type of magic you have yet, so, let's figure that out first, uhm? Miko you said you had good aim… so…." He pointed his hand at the targets.

"B-but I don't have a gun!" Miko brushed his black spiky hair and narrowed his dark eyes while Natsu crossed his arms above his chest and shifted his weight "Why do you even need one?"

The kids stayed quiet, evidently not understanding where he was going with this "Hmm, ok" he stood behind Miko and grabbed his shoulders "Look at the target" the kid sighed but obliged; Natsu grabbed his hand and made him stretch his index finger as if pointing at the target while holding his thumb up "This is ridiculous! This is what kids do when they play pretend!"

"Duh… you are a kid, idiot…" the comment gained another eye roll "Ok… now, aim well… close your eyes and take a deep breath" Miko made a sound similar to a tiny growl before doing as instructed "Ok… now, imagine your hand is a… I dunno… super freaking immense machinegun! Yeah that!"

"Jeez… and you call me an idiot"

"Can it! Just do it" and he did, he stood there feeling stupid for a bit when he felt Natsu put his hand above his tiny stomach "Feel it here… feel it crawling to your arm and filling your weapon just as if it was a real one… and when you are ready pull the trigger"

Miko's eyebrow twitched trying to concentrate, it took a few tries and then suddenly he got so frustrated that the first think that jump into his head was his mother's voice, calling him too slow, too little, too useless.

His family had been all but encouraging and the one thing he was good out was cleaning after their mess. There was a memory he hoped would fade one day, but he knew it wouldn't… he wasn't always the eldest child of his house, he had a sister a couple of years older than him; she had perfect aim, she was strong, smart and beautiful and she would commonly take the heath of him when his parents were angry.

Miko had mention to Natsu before, the one time he had almost made his parents got caught, what he didn't say is that it hadn't been an accident. The child had figured out, if there was something to trace his parents back to the killings then someone would have to stop them; he had left some faint prints behind but what he didn't consider was his father was much clever and didn't trust anyone around him.

The beating he took had been so severe he was hoping for death to take him away just to make the pain stop; he curled his body and hugged his legs, tears streaming down his face while he screamed, suddenly the door flew open and a shot was fired directly at his father, going through his shoulder.

His father then had jumped his sister and the only thing he could do was close his eyes and cover his ears, when it was all done his father pulled him up and grabbed his face so he could stare at his sister's cold dead body _"This is all your fault… you will never be as good as she was and I still took care out, and now this is your mess to clean boy… clean it well and don't ever make those mistakes again of what happened to her will be nothing compared to what I will do to you"_ Miko had been forced to clear his sister's remains along with the blood from the family room where they had dinner that same night as if nothing had happened.

He felt his anger and hate rise and accumulate in his belly to then move towards his arm… in a second, he moved his thumb as if it was a trigger; he was so into his mental image that he thought he could almost hear the bang traveling through the air and hitting its destination.

The kids gasped and that cause him to come out of his head and turn quickly "What!?" he saw the kids pointing behind him with widen eyes and open mouths and when he turned, the target laid destroyed on the floor, still fuming.

His jaw almost hit the floor "D-d-did I do that?" he pointed at it and then looked at Natsu, his voice coming louder now "DID I DO THAT?!" Natsu nodded "You sure did quirt… now you see… who needs a gun? You have fire in your belly and ten fingers on your hands last time I checked, right?" The kid jumped up and down excitedly, he'd never felt more alive, never felt so encouraged. Without a second though he jumped towards Natsu, not hard enough to break his balance, and in that moment when tears started streaming down his eyes, he looked at Natsu and wondered…. Why couldn't his father have been like him? No… better yet, why couldn't he be his father for real?

In the distance, the rest of his family observed; Mal and Helle had a smile from ear to ear, Nephele's mouth has slightly curled, but Aporia's face was set in a deep frown. The golden knight rolled his eyes at her and huffed "You know… frowning will cause that centuries-old face to wrinkle"

"You are such a child…" Mal smiled "That may be, but that doesn't change the fact that your face is annoying… can't you be at least a bit moved by that?" he pointed at the scene.

"They are a distraction…"

"Aw come on aunty! This is the most comfortable we've seen him"

"I agree with her" Mal looked at the dark-haired woman in the eye "He needs this Ria… could you not spoil it for him?"

"This is a mere band aid… he isn't capable of happiness anymore and that is on you, although for the purpose it will probably sooth him better"

"So, he shouldn't even try?"

"At this rate the castle will be filled with more kids than dark guilds within a month! He needs to focus!"

"Shut the fuck up Ria…" Mal's initial glee was gone and he had lost his temper; the look he gave her was pure fire "You haven't even told him what you want him to do… and believe me my contract with him may not include full disclosure but I'm sure as hell ready to tell him if you don't"

"He's not Phrixus, you can't undo your mistakes, or maybe you are just worried you won't be able to guard him… history tends to repeat itself"

"You walk a thin line witch… I will die before I let Natsu share the same destiny that his parents, you would be wise to remember that… do not tempt me" he disappeared quickly into golden sparks.

Natsu had kept his eyes on the kids while they tried to do the same as Miko, failing every time; since his surge of power his ears were sharper than before and so, the conversation had been as clear as if they stood next to him.

He hadn't really trust them completely, however he had gotten more comfortable around them because in the end, despite of all the bad in his life, he had learnt that people were inherently good… why would he believe otherwise? When he was left alone there was Igneel, when the dragon left, and he had to survive by himself there was Makarov who took him to a place where no one knew him, but they loved him either way… then there was Lucy.

He kicked himself mentally… _'stupid… as always'_ why he had always decided to focus on the positive despite the evidence was something he didn't understand. How could he believe people were good? He remembered Shiro, Fukuro, Master Hades, Master Jose, so many faces in so little time and he realized what people meant when they said he was naïve.

His attention was brought back to his current task when he fell a pull on his pants "Uhm… what about us?" the tiny four-year-old widen her pink eyes and brushed a strand of her gray blue hair.

"Am… Adae that is a good question…" Natsu realized he had no idea how to make the kids access their magic power when suddenly Helle appeared next to him "Want some help?"

He stared at her and she could tell he wasn't happy about her presence but once he nodded, she decided to put that on the back of her mind "OK, so everyone let's sit down again… I want you to be very quiet ok?" all the kids took their seats and nodded "Now let's do something similar to what Miko did, close your eyes, take a deep breath and feel everything around you, listen to everything and find something that calls you and try to mix it with your energy, ok?"

They were sitting there for hours and the kids were getting impatient, they could tell, but there was also no quick way to do this. The sun was going down and the sounds of the land became even clearer when the moon made an appearance and a pack of wolves howled at the moon.

Night had always been magic for Natsu… it was the time where he could lay back and hear his partner tell stories she would generally not share in daylight in front of people, stories about her mother, her spirits, the stars… night was a reminder of what he had and lost and the bittersweet feeling now sometimes was too much to take, however being surrounded by the kids made it better.

Neri shook in fear and bit her lip, but then she felt something in her stomach… she gasped and tried to pull on that feeling as much as she could, picturing it in her head and in no time her hands took a pale green glow. With her eyes still closed, she placed her hands on the ground and focused as much energy as possible there and when she opened her eyes a small flower had grown below them.

It was a tiny curious thing, a thin green stem with 3 green leaves that led to a white fluffy sphere that seemed to have light on its own.

"LOOK! LOOK AT WHAT I DID!" the kids opened their eyes and gasped, marveled by how her creation brightened the place.

"Oh, Neri that is beautiful honey!" Helle pressed her finger to her mouth "W-what is it?"

"I don't know! I just pictured it and it appeared, I did it!"

"Very cool kiddo, now it's getting late, why don't we go inside to get some dinner and continue tomorrow?" Natsu saw the disappointment in the children's face, but he also knew them stressing over it would do no good "It'll come with time, and even if it doesn't you can always be strong without magic… don't forget that"

They walked back in to find the last of the kids already waiting for them on the table, he was small for a five-year-old and he generally disliked going outside, he had short brown hair and big eyes which seemed blue but were just too light, which was the main reason he avoided being outside.

Calei had been born with extreme light sensitivity and his eyes would stain if the day was bright it also didn't help that he didn't see very well, so he preferred rainy days, or evenings as long as he was accompanied by someone else to guide him.

"You guys took FOREVER!" Natsu looked at him and shook his head "Well next time feel free to join us"

"You know I can't go!"

"I told you we would figure it out ok?" the kid nodded and soon the rest of the weirdly built family sat down on the table to eat. The kids were excitedly talking about the events of the day, but Natsu was quiet and looking at Aporia directly which didn't go unnoticed for the adults.

"Ok… time for bed" they whined and begged but soon Miko stared at Natsu and nodded "You heard him! Let's go, up, up, up!" they reluctantly followed him and once Natsu couldn't hear them anymore he went back to staring at Aporia.

"What's on your mind?"

"Is there something you'd like to share with me?" her lip curled up "No, I've said everything I need to…" Natsu rested his chin on his right hand, his eyes burning a whole on Aporia's face "Stop giving me that look, if you have something to say then go ahead" she let her weight fall on the back of the chair and gave him a daring look "Oh, I have plenty to say… for starters… Fuck you and everyone on this table"

While Helle, Mal and Nephele stiffened at his words, she looked unconcerned "That's not very nice to say, your parents would be disappointed"

"Well they are dead… why should I care?"

"Child I have no time to play your games, what is it this time?" he stood up, grabbed the whiskey and poured himself a drink "I am neither a child nor your fucking pet, let's make that clear… whatever it is you people are hiding from me believe me when I say you will regret it"

Helle smiled, stood up and walked towards him "What makes you think we are hiding something?" she grabbed his arm but he pushed her away giving her an unforgiving look; she felt hurt by the action and her lip became a thin line "We said no bullshit… and here you are lying again, and you!" he pointed his drink at Mal "Please feel free to either add full disclosure to our contract or consider it void, because I ain't planning on playing games with you"

They stayed quiet for a moment realizing that they hadn't considered his capabilities, Mal cleared his throat and stared directly at him "Look, I promise I won't hide anything from you, that was never my intention but it's not my place to talk to you about it"

"Then make it your place… soon… or I'll leave, and you'll be left with a full battalion of dark guilds with no one to follow"

"Big thread considering you have nowhere to go Natsu" he smiled, walked slowly towards Ria and placed his hands on her shoulders "It would do you good to remember that my brother walked by himself for centuries because he had nowhere to go"

"You are not your brother… for better or worse you are more of a social creature my dear"

"Dragneels are stubborn and if it ensures that I will turn whatever plan you have to shit believe me… I'll do whatever it takes"

Things were tense to say the least, finally she sighed "Very well… follow me" Aporia stood up and Natsu followed her without saying a word until they reached the door leading to her library. They entered the room and sat down; she observed the bookshelves while tapping her chin, once she located what she was looking for Aporia snapped her fingers before the dark cover book appeared on her hands.

She opened it and pointed at the drawing. "Is this supposed to tell me something?" she smiled and sat next to him before switching pages again.

* * *

It'd been four days since they had left the guild, they had walked and backtracked several times to hide their trail before taking one they considered the safest. Erza had called in a favor from Ichiya and he had procured a vessel which would transport them overseas; since this was not a regular trip, there was no way to make it easier on them so they had to walk to port.

Although their closest choice was Hargeon, that was also the most dangerous place to go since it was highly populated, not only that but the fact was that if the council was looking for them, the closest choice would be heavily guarded. Their options were limited and their best choice was to use the mountains to hide their position.

Their trip would be long and extenuating; they would have to cover more than 1,500 miles to cross the Hidden Blades and the mountain cluster of Oak town, but it was the only way they had of reaching the Cloud Sea while keeping their location a secret. Once there, the boat will transport everyone to the land once known as Alvarez which after Zeref died became a much peaceful place than what they remembered.

Taking on this task without being seen was harder than what it looked like, mostly taking into consideration that it wasn't just a couple people travelling but the entirety of their guild, it would take longer than usual since they had to change directions several times to avoid being discovered. The idea was to try to cover between 40 and 50 miles per day to arrive to their destination in about a month give or take.

They'd considered using Mest at some point, but transporting as many people to such distance would be dangerous not only for him but for the members left behind on either side and they didn't know where the council had eyes and ears, so the idea had been thrown away.

It was getting darker by the minute, and although it was probably the safest to travel without light, it also brought many other dangers.

"Let's set up camp brats! We need the rest" they nodded and began preparing everything, they always tried to avoid making fires since that could give away their location, instead they used the provisions they'd packed, knowing at some point they would run out.

"I'm too tired!" Lucy sighed and rested her weight on Levy's side "Ugh I am too… Lu… you are heavy" the blond whined again "I feel sticky…"

"You are… and I am too…" Gajeel growled at them obviously annoyed by their complains "You are both fine… stop crying about a little sweat…"

Levy puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms above her chest "Well, I guess you'll have to sleep lonely in your corner until I get a shower, I tend not to be in a loving mood when I feel dirty…"

Gajeel opened and closed his mouth a couple of times "Tsk… sneaky shrimp… FINE… I smell water not far from here" he grinned at Levy "We can go and…"

"Absolutely not! I am also going to take a bath and you are not welcome to join!" Lucy pointed at him angrily. Gajeel crossed his arms above his chest and all but snarled at them "You cannot go by yourselves!"

"We'll be fine grumpy dragon… if I feel there's something wrong you will know through our bond and come to the rescue, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts! We'll be back soon, just point us in the right direction" He grumbled and growled before pointing his finger towards them "FINE, but you are taking Erza with you!" he left to find the great Titania talking to Jellal who had joined them the same day they left.

"OI! Bunny and Shrimp want to go take care of their girly shower needs, can you PLEASE go with them since I am apparently "forbidden to join"?"

Erza giggled "Of course, indeed a bath sounds wonderful. Jellal, please make sure Gajeel behaves while we are gone" the blue headed mage smiled and winked at her "Of course, I will watch him like a hawk", she blushed a bit and nodded her head before catching up with her friends.

They made their way to a lake that was indeed not far from where their temporary camp had been set and submerged themselves in the cool soothing water.

"This feels great" Lucy was letting the water wash her worries away when Levy turned to Erza "So… how are things going with you and Jellal?"

The Queen of the fairies blushed and stuttered "T-they are f-fine, we… I…" Lucy giggled "You haven't talked to him yet, have you?"

"No… how can I? What am I even supposed to say?!" Levy grabbed Erza's hands and squeezed them "Just tell him what you feel! I'm sure with a little push he'll take care of the rest"

"I guess…"

"If it all fails just jump him… it seemed to have worked for Levy" Lucy stuck her tongue out "LU! Gosh why!?" the girls laughed when suddenly they heard the distinctive sound or branches and leaves. They remained quiet and unmoving, thinking maybe they could go unnoticed when two figures came out of the shadows.

"Well… what do we have here" the men wore a full armor with the council's symbol and a sharp looking sword on their sides "Young ladies such as yourselves shouldn't be as lonely as you are… it's dangerous"

Erza smiled at them "We are capable of taking care of ourselves, thank you gentleman for your concern"

"It is our duty to take care of people my lady, you wouldn't want to be caught of guard… lonely and vulnerable as you are right now, would you?" there was an underlying tone to his words that rubbed the fairy tail mages the wrong way.

The second knight rolled his eyes and pushed his partner away "Easy there stud… Have you happened to come across someone else on this side of the forest?"

The girls tensed up, right now the knights believed them to be alone, but if they caught on the fact that there was a large group of people close by, they could definitely figure out their current situation "No, I can't say we have, who are you looking for?" the man frowned "My lady we are looking for a tanned, tall, young male… he has a red mark on his arm and… a unique hair color"

They girls didn't say but they knew exactly who they were looking for "No Sir, we have not"

"He's a very dangerous man, not someone you'd like to face… it would be on your best interest to turn back home as soon as you can" the girls nodded nervously, maintaining their bodies well underwater to avoid the prying eyes of the man's partner.

The first knight turned to him "They have to be lying, he has to be somewhere around… they said this magic was infallible" he was holding a squared translucid lacrima screen with a bubble on its corner containing a red dense liquid "Put that away idiot!"

"Is that… blood?" Lucy cursed herself, the question had left her mouth before she had time to think things through "Nosey, aren't we?"

"My apologies, I didn't mean to…"

"Get out…"

"I'm sure you'll understand we are proper ladies and would not exhibit ourselves in such a way" Erza stared at them with angry eyes, she cared not for nudity, but she knew their guild marks would be visible.

"You deaf lady?! Get out" Erza stood up revealing her naked torso and balling her hands, water glistening on her body; she took a few steps towards the edge before planting both feet on the land.

"That mark… Fairy Tail" the knight got ahold of his sword but before he had time to move, he was stricken by an angry blue haired mage while the other knight fell on the ground after being punched by Gajeel.

"Pervy asshole…" Jellal removed his coat and blushed averting his eyes while covering Erza "H-here…" she nodded and mumbled what he presumed was 'Thanks'.

"What now? We can't leave them here, they'll just call for backups"

"Call Mest… he'll take care of their memories… and can you please hand Lucy and I our clothes?" Gajeel signaled Jellal to get their guildmate while we got their stuff and in no time their partner was there picking up the two knights.

"Very well… I leave them far enough, anything you'd like me to place in their minds?"

"Leave them outside a bar and pour some alcohol on them, if they believe they did something wrong they won't report anything to the council, erase anything from a couple or hours before" he nodded at Lucy and disappeared into thin air.

They walked back, less shaken and feeling refreshed and once they were back, they approached the Master "What happened out there?"

Lucy sat on the floor next to him "Two council knights… Mest took care of it" Makarov nodded and took a big gulp from his drink "Master… they were carrying this weird lacrima, I think it had blood on it and I'm pretty sure they were looking for Natsu"

"Then it would make no sense for them to have come here, child; he is nowhere near us" she nodded and went back to her tent to try to get some rest, and once she did, her dreams were filled with Natsu on the night before he left.

 _He laid her down on their bed and planted kisses all the way from her neck to her bellybutton, he stretched his back before grabbing her right leg to remove her shoe, he kissed her ankle, the inside of her calf and her thigh before doing the same with her left leg, he stopped to look at her and everything stopped for them, in that moment the only thing that existed was them, everything else disappeared._

 _He laid above her, supporting his weight with his arms and kissed her senseless enjoying every moan and whimper from her mouth._

 _Lucy pushed his shoulder with her hand, so he would lay on his back which surprised him a bit, but as soon as he rose his head from the pillow, she pushed it back and started kissing his chest while he tried to contain himself from growling._

 _She kissed lower every time and once she reached his belt, she pulled at it desperately which made him laugh "Woah… easy there Luce" she gave him a vicious look before pulling his pants down and throwing them to the ground, his boxers followed a couple of seconds after._

 _Natsu did an attempt to pull her up but when she shook him off he started getting a bit frustrated and pulled himself up resting on his arms only to see her lowering her head slowly while staring at him "What exactly are you… Oh" he couldn't say much, his words got caught in his lungs and he let his head fall on the pillow and closed his eyes while he let himself be engulfed by the sensation that Lucy's mouth caused on his entire body._

 _His hands moved instinctively to her head to feel her bobbing up and down his length while his brain simply stopped processing everything, he did his best to raise his face again and open his eyes and the sight of her made him harder than before and he didn't even know that was possible._

 _Lucy suddenly sat up and crawled to his lap, while she rubbed herself against him "Luce… you are teasing…" she giggled again before moving her hands to hold his wrists down "You are always hogging control… not tonight"_

 _He felt a shiver down his spine and gulped when he saw her release one of his wrists and softly caress his chest, then his stomach, and finally getting a firm grip on him to aim him properly before pushing herself down._

 _Lucy's hand went back to grabbing his wrists before pulling his hands to her breasts. She didn't move up, instead she started moving her hips in a circular motion while he was inside of her and the dragon slayer couldn't avoid his mouth from opening while he gasped silently._

 _Natsu pushed his hips up instinctively and when he heard her moan harder, he knew he had hit a good spot, so he continued doing so while she moved her hips on top of him driving him to the edge of his sanity._

 _She rested her hands on his chest and pulled her hips up until the limit of contact only to land hard again on top of him, he squeezed her breast harder this time; he was sure his brain would stop working soon._

 _Lucy felt as if burning up from inside out, but not in a bad way, it was as if liquid fire filled her body and it was so real, she felt as if the flames of celestial fire would consume her at some point. He moved his hands from her breasts to her hips and met her movement with his own thrusts, she was moaning his name over and over and finally he saw her drop her head back and felt a pulse while she clenched on him._

Lucy woke up panting and covered her face with both hands, she noticed she was sweating and there was an uncomfortable ache between her legs along with the inevitable moisture of arousal.

"Fuck… I need some air…" she left her tend and saw a couple for people still sitting outside; Cana, Bickslow, Laxus and Mira gave her a weird look before taking another drink from the whiskey bottle Cana was trying not to hogg.

"Want a drink Blondie?" Lucy nodded at Laxus and sat down next to him, she noticed he didn't look at her but was smirking "What's so funny?"

Cana couldn't help herself and laughed loudly "Well that sounded like a hell of a dream Lucy!" she panicked and blushed before covering her face trying to cover her embarrassment "IDON'TKNOWWHATYOUARETALKINGABOUT"

"Sure you don't… Well atta boy! Never thought Natsu would ever cause a woman to make those sounds! That's for sure…" at this point Laxus and Bickslow couldn't contain themselves anymore and laughed so hard that their sound resonated on the forest.

"Shut up! May I remind you we are fugitives! We are supposed to be discrete!"

"Says the sleepy scream queen!" Laxus took pity on Lucy and signaled Cana to shut up before turning towards Lucy "Well you can't exactly blame us for being surprised, we keep seeing him as a child, to be honest I just assumed all the fighting had fried his brain… we didn't notice when he was all grown up"

"Yeah…" the lingering feeling remained with her, it was so real he could almost smell him on her clothes and feel his burning touch on her skin, Bickslow was still laughing when Cana turned to him "You should shut up, at least flame had the balls to go after his lady"

"That was low Cana!" Laxus patted Bickslow's shoulder "Pick your fights man" Lucy was only half paying attention, her expression was too serious for the current mood, and so, when she softly spoke, they all stared at her and listened.

"You shouldn't waste time, you never know when you will have no more of it Bicks" the Seith mage opened his mouth to speak but didn't have any words to respond with "I'm just saying… you should know better, we are lucky that Edolas happened and she's back and now with things as they are…"

They had no words of encouragement for her, each was trying to find bliss where they could, but they knew Lucy's happiness would forever be broken unless Natsu came back, and at this point they weren't sure it even possible.

Lucy could tell they felt sorry for her, and she did what she had seen Natsu do many times in the past; she smiled as much as she could to hide her pain away from the rest… Missing him was the hardest thing she had done.

* * *

Natsu woke up in the middle of the night with Lucy's name on his lips, he could feel the sheets were wet from his own sweat, they had a few rips on them too caused by him pulling too hard.

As if that wasn't enough indication of the dream he had, the raging hard on was. "F-fuck…" he turned to the door where Miko was standing eyeing him curiously "Am… are you ok?"

Natsu rubbed his face and pulled his knees up to avoid any embarrassing moment and simply nodded while he tried to catch his breath "So… who's Lucy?" he froze for a second, how long had the kid been at the door was unknown but he had been there long enough to hear her name which was bad enough "None of your business squirt… why aren't you in bed?"

"I was, Calei was crying, he said there was a monster in the room" he shrugged "Anyways, I heard you making some weird noises, so, since I was already up…" Natsu nodded and sighed "Ok, as you see… no monsters in my room aside from me" he waved his hand signaling him to go away "So… back to bed"

"Fine… but just for you to know, none of us sees you as a monster and whoever made you think that is batshit crazy" Miko smirked and turned around but before closing the door he looked over his shoulder "You know… if you miss this Lucy girl so much, maybe you should find her" he smiled once more and closed the door quickly before Natsu could say anything else.

"If only kid…"

He couldn't go back to sleep, and his evident need took a while to control itself. He got off bed and walked to the roof, the sky looked clear, so, he decided to lay there for a while and stare at the stars. All the times Lucy had tried to explain them to him made its way to his mind and he wished he had paid enough attention to it.

"You seem to be looking for something…"

"Well since loyal friends are scarce in this castle, I was trying to remember some old ones…"

"Come on… don't be like that" Natsu rolled his eyes and ignored him while he looked up to the sky "Are you going to ignore me?"

"Only forever if that's ok with you" Mal laughed "You do know forever is kind of meaningless to me, right?"

"I can't trust you…" Mal sighed and rubbed the back of his head "Look… there's a lot she won't tell me, and I am sorry but that seemed to be a family matter"

"She ain't family… blood doesn't make family Mal, loyalty and sacrifice do…"

"Interesting way to put it… you seem to know a lot about sacrifice"

"I don't know… it seems to be hardwired into my brain… mom and dad died so we could live, I died so Zeref could live and he sacrificed his soul to bring me back… Igneel died so I could carry on his will, only for me to fuck things up again… the cycle is complete I guess, maybe if I hadn't come back…"

"If you are here is because you are destined to" Natsu huffed "Fuck destiny… the only thing it does is make us think we have a chance at being happy, I can assure you I have no false hopes on that"

"Spoken as a true pessimist… what happened to the boy who always though he could win a fight?"

"He died… or lost his way and then died, something like that"

"Well… when you get lost you only need to find the North star and follow it" he smiled without knowing what that meant for Natsu. The North star was a way home, but there was no light bright enough to take him there, because for him, the only home worth returning to would be one where Lucy was.

"Hey Mal… could you…."

"Hmm?" he sighed "Could you point out the zodiacs?" the spirit smiled and nodded before taking his place next to Natsu "You see those five stars over there? That's Aries… people usually confuse her story with mine"

"Yeah, no… you are nothing like her" Mal widen his eyes and sat up excitedly "You know her?"

"Mhm… she's sweet but apologizes too much, before she had a really shitty master until…" He still couldn't say her name and Mal saw something similar to pain pass quickly on the dragon slayer's expression, his face went a bit dark, but he shook it off "That bright star over there, that's Regulus and…"

"Yeah, yeah… Fucking Loke can't keep it inside his pants for five minutes" Mal blinked a couple of times "Stupid lion loves the attention"

"Exactly how many zodiacs do you know?" Natsu huffed "In person? I guess all of them, I don't know… how many are they?"

Mal was confused and his eyes twitched a bit before responding "Twelve, well thirteen if you count Ophiuchus but not a lot of people do"

"Mhm… well I know" Natsu counted with his fingers to make sure he didn't forget any "Aries, Loke… and that goat man Capricornus, the silly horseman with the bow, Taurus, those funny twins, Cancer, Virgo which has set a new record in my weird-o-meter, Sagittarius" Natsu shivered "And Aquarius… she is terrifying"

"So, you know ten zodiacs?!" Mal was baffled, humans generally knew very little of the celestial spirits "Yeah, I've seen Pisces and Libra, but I can't say I have a close relationship with them"

"I assume you met them through Celestial Mages like Lucy?" Natsu stiffened at the mention of her name "Yeah… I did…"

"Well she is lucky to have met them at some point, is rare even for Celestial mages to see as many in person"

"See them? She owns ten of the golden keys… they are extremely loyal to her" Mal couldn't register the information, very few people had been known to own more than a couple golden keys, but someone owning ten of them was unheard of on the last 400 hundred years.

"Well… she must be an impressive mage if they are all contracted to her"

"They are more than that to her… they are her friends and she has risked her life for them, you know Loke almost died?"

"That's highly unlikely" Natsu smiled and sat up "Well, being locked from the celestial realm for two years will do that to you, Lucy stood up to the big mustache himself to save Loke's ass"

At this point Mal had no words, his surprise was evident not only for the news of a zodiac being punished in such a way, but for a mage to care enough to put life at risk for it; Natsu was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice "You know… she has summoned all of them together a couple of times, the last one to try to save my ass actually… it's almost as if her will is endless… it's like she's made of pure light, sometimes it's even hard to look at her and not think she is a star herself…"

Natsu felt a pang of pain in his chest and marveled at the feeling, he didn't know he could miss pain so much and now it was there, and he knew it; at this point he would take any feeling, no matter how horrible it was. He shook it off and sat up quickly trying to cover the fact "I'm going back to bed… uhm thanks"

Mal was left there sitting, confused and going over the conversation he had over and over until he felt fire in the pit of his stomach. He punched the floor and in a flash of light he disappeared. He reappeared just as quickly in an old abandoned cave and knelt before an altar.

This had been his home for a long time, one he shared with his element brother; the Fire Dragon King's nest seemed unchanged, but its warmth was long gone.

"What did I do?"

"You are not supposed to be here…" Ares came out from the back, and although he wore a serious expression he nodded and smiled at the golden knight "What did I do?"

Ares walked closer to him and waited patiently for him to get out of whatever shock he was in "I didn't just sign off on his death… I killed him, didn't I?!"

The mighty God then did something Mal never thought he would see; he knelt and embraced him tightly "Why? Why does he still feel for her? Why is the pain not gone?! He lost his soul, there's no way he should still feel the way he clearly does"

"I'm afraid you are correct… his heart should be empty by now" In a moment of panic Mal pushed Ares' shoulders away to look at his face "Then why!?"

"You know why… there's only a handful of reason for a soulless shell to be still attached"

"But even with the red thread of fate… it wouldn't last once severed"

"This is no ordinary thread, not red but golden… think more in the terms of the life thread of a God, impossible to break under normal circumstances… if that ever breaks, they'll both die, even with their mate bond broken"

"I did kill him then… he is a dead man walking" Mal sat himself on the grown "I failed again"

"You could have… you almost did; It seems we have been played for quite some time, I thought we were pulling the strings and it has become clear I underestimated Apollo's sight" Mal widen his eyes, he had heard many times of Apollo's prophecy and had immediately thought about it when Natsu revealed Lucy's true nature.

 _"Children born in between land and stars, unbound by time and tight together by destiny… strong enough to balance the scales against the Gods if they chose to. A man that rises from the fire of Hell itself, and a woman with the power to make the sky explode and a heart to fit the world"_

"That can't be…"

"Don't be naïve… Aporia got her power from Hades, Shiro got it from Apollo himself and now Hades refuses to take his servant out despite of her many treasons, we've been a step behind for too long"

Mal's mind was racing, he had forced the disconnection between not only a mage, but a Dragon Slayer and his mate, he had pulled them apart and he didn't think there was a way to fix it.

Magic was the energy around the world that lived through life itself, and as any energy it would flow and keep the world spinning; blocking the mate's bond was like putting a thick wall that prevented the energy to flow naturally which meant no matter how much they willingly try, they wouldn't be able to reconnect, and aside from that Natsu had lost his soul, so, in essence there was nothing to reconnect to.

"Father… I didn't know! Why did I now know?" Ares turned his back on him "I think we underestimated Aporia, for all her speech of justice and vengeance I believe she has done much more than what we know"

Mal's eyes darkened "I'll take care down… for Phrix and his children, I swear on my contract"

"You will do no such thing… listen, there's still a chance to undo what we've done… but there's no guarantee…" Mal stood up and got closer to him "Hades intervened… he pushed dark fire from the underworld"

"The dark flames!" the God nodded "This would be bad but I don't think he knows what he actually caused… you see, the blood sacrifice is supposed to lead his soul out and for the element to take over the space of the soul, as if it was a transfer… but when Hades pushed his own transfer in it, it pushed all energy aside"

"Does that mean he still has his soul?" there was a bit of hope in the knights face, until he saw Ares bite his lip "Not completely… while fire pushed in, his soul was suppose to push out, but when Hades forced his own fire it pushed the left over energy to the back causing it to flow at a slower pace, so most of his soul is gone but it left something behind… however we can't know for how long"

"I'm not sure I understand"

"A river flows freely, if you put a dam then it stops, and water accumulates… let's say the dam has a hole in it and what's supposed to be being held is pouring slowly through it" Mal nodded signaling Ares to continue "We can't know what he will push out, it could be his soul, my fire or Hades'"

"How do we make sure he doesn't push his soul out?"

He turned to face Mal and grabbed his shoulders "It is not up to us if he recovers from this, you need to understand that… the bigger part of his soul is still captive on your gem, there's still a chance but it's… a long shot; he needs to hold on to what's left of him on his own accord"

"What about Ria?"

"We can't trust the sorceress… watch your back, and his"

Mal had new determination, he would find a way to help Natsu find the pieces of his broken soul by any means necessary. He didn't come back to the castle immediately, instead he paced and thought about things that could help give his master a slight push towards the right direction.

Morning came quickly and as soon as light filtered through the windows the knight made his way to Natsu's room.

"Morning Natsu" there was no answer, so, he pulled the covers off Natsu's face "I said Morning Natsu"

"Fuck off… too early…" he pulled the covers back of and rolled his position to face the opposite side.

"Oh… well I thought you would be interested in what I had to show you… but I guess not" Natsu was curious by nature, and so, he immediately removed the covers from his face "I'll lose interest in a minute… so… what it is?"

Mal smiled from ear to ear and dropped something on the groggy slayer's lap; Natsu gave a quizzical look "Not my style really… although they look like the ones Edo-Natsu had…"

"Well… those aren't for you…" there was a knowing smile on his face. The slayer stared at them for some time, he sat up and suddenly a lightbulb went off in his head. He pushed the covers quickly and got dressed to meet everyone for breakfast; once the rest reached the table Natsu was already sitting with a smirk that chilled everyone a bit "Mornin' residents of the creepiest castle ever…"

Miko yawned and scratched his belly "You look oddly cheerful…"

"Today, we are trying something different… where's Calei?"

"In the bedroom beneath the covers as usual, you know he hates daylight" Natsu nodded and stood up making his way quickly to the kids' room "Cai! Wake up"

"I don't wanna!" Natsu huffed and pulled the covers only to find the kid had his face against the pillows "Come on! You are going out today"

"NO, you know it hurts… I can't"

"Sure you can, I have something for you" the kid slowly rose his face and sat up pouting, Natsu stretched his hand but he noticed the kid scrunching his eyes. The slayer sat next to him and placed some very dark goggles on his face before securing them behind his head.

"Ok, so I'm not sure this will work, but they will take care of the sun, and as long as we are with you everything will be ok, could you please try it?" the kid nodded and although the room was now too dark and he couldn't see beyond his nose he reached for Natsu's hand to help himself off the bed.

The kids were surprised and overjoyed for him to join them and after breakfast they went to their regular training session with Mal while Calei ran after them, happily smiling when feeling the sun on his skin.

"Mal…" Natsu rubbed the back of his head, there was a hint of a smile on his face that made the knight feel hope "Uhm… thanks, Cai really needed that"

"Don't mention it, he needs training too" Mal walked towards the kids and rounded them up for regular training; while most were now semi used to the physical strain, Cai could only complete part of it due to his weak built.

They day went as usual until late at night when Natsu's door slammed open and before he could react, he had five panicked children crawling on his bed crying and mumbling nonsense "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE!"

Miko grabbed Natsu's hair and pulled "There's a monster in our room! I swear we all saw it this time!" the slayer huffed and laid his head on bed "There's no fucking monster in your room, and if there is then kick its ass and let me go back to sleep!"

His statement was followed by more crying, screaming and overlapped speech. Adae, the small bluenette whimpered and laid her head on his chest "B-but what if he eats us! And then you don't see us at breakfast because we were his breakfast! And then we'll all have to live in his tummy!"

Natsu grumbled and got off the bed with an annoyed expression "Ady… that's not how it works… if a monster eats you, you know never mind, just show me… if there was something there, I'll know, ok?" they nodded and Calei grabbed Natsu's hand until they were standing outside of the room "I smell nothing… it was just a bad dream"

The kids kept whining and screaming in panic until he was forced to cover his ears "SHUT UP!... I'll stay here until you guys fall asleep and if there are any monsters, I'll take care of them, fair enough?" the kids nodded and went back to bed while Natsu sat on the floor in between the beds with an angry look on his face.

He sat there for half an hour until the kids went back to sleep and just when he was about to leave, he saw a shadow inside the room that startled him. He took a fighting stance but noticed the shadow seemed to be fighting something invisible.

The shape had no smell to it, no presence and he tried to deliver a punch that only went through it without stopping its actions. He waved his hand a couple of times with the same result and then he heard a small whimper behind him.

Calei was having a bad dream and turning in his sleep, Natsu turn from the shadow to the kid and walked back next to the bed to observe the child once more.

He remembered how Lucy calmed his nightmares after the magic games where he had feared losing her, and his hand instinctively moved to the child's head to brush his hair; the five-year-old sighed deeply and snuggled closer to the soothing warmth of his hand and in the blink of an eye, the shadow was gone.

"Woah…" Natsu removed his hand and sat down for another hour until Calei started whimpering in his sleep, and just like that the shadow was back. He remembered Mavis and how she had the ability to create great shapes and forms beyond expectations and genuinely smiled at the kid and patted him on the head, which caused him to wake up "Did you find the monster?"

"I did… are you too sleepy to go out with me for a little bit?" the kid cleaned his face and yawned "I'll do anything you want me to" Natsu felt awkward at that, someone putting as much trust in someone like him wasn't good, but right now his aim was to help the kid protect himself.

He knew Calei didn't see well, so, he picked him up on his shoulders and silently left the room without anyone else noticing, once they were outside, he sat him down on the floor "There was no monster shorty… that was all you"

"I am not crazy! The others saw it too!" he chuckled "I know they did, I mean it wasn't a monster… you were just having a bad dream and your magic kind of took care of the rest"

"No way… I am weak and useless" Natsu scrunched his nose "What exactly makes you say that?" Calei shrugged "Mommy and Daddy use to say that all the time… they told me one day they would leave me on the forest by myself if I kept being such a waste of space"

"Cai… look, no one can tell you how strong or how weak you are, you are the only one who can decide that… do something for me ok? Close your eyes" the kid did as instructed "What do you remember that makes you happy?"

He bit his lip, thinking about the moment in particular and a faint smile appeared on his face "It was before my eyes got really bad… We were passing through a town and my parents went to place to sell some stuff, I was outside looking at the horses when this pretty white horse came close and I was able to touch him… it was super soft…"

Natsu saw a flicker of light energy that swirled around starting to form a shape "Ok… what did the horse do?" he saw Cai's smile grow larger "He jumped and ran in circles, it was beautiful!"

"Ok I want you to hold to that memory ok? Don't let it go… now open your eyes and tell me what you see"

Calei opened his eyes and his jaw almost hit the floor as he watched the white light stallion prancing, it didn't matter how bad his eyes were, it was there "I can see it! Why can I see it?!"

"You made it kid… it's weak now, but you know… I knew a mage who was big on creating illusions so strong that you could even touch them… she was one of the strongest mages that ever lived, she even had her own guild… and you know she was tiny as hell… like a fairy" there was that pain in his heart again and for once Natsu didn't try to hide it. Calei grabbed the slayers face and pouted "Why does that make you sad?"

"It doesn't"

"You always look sad… You don't always show it… but I can feel it swirling around you… don't be sad" Natsu grabbed the kid and held him while he went back to the castle to put him in bed, by the time they had made it to the room, Calei was half asleep.

"Sleep kiddo… we'll practice some more tomorrow" he arranged his covers and turned away only to stop when he heard the child's sleeping voice so low that a normal person wouldn't her it "Night papa" he froze… in his mind the fact that he had decimated the kids' family would avoid them from making any real connection with him, but he had been wrong.

He knew then keeping the kids for too long would be a mistake, they should be with people that could take care of them and love them as they deserved, people that wouldn't leave them or have a hidden agenda to work on. Natsu knew that letting them stay would be selfish; their presence was strangely soothing for his aching heart, but the amount of pain it would cause them in the long run was something he didn't want to carry.

There was only one thing to do, get them ready to protect themselves, to be guild worthy… and then send them on their way to the only place he knew they would be treasured and valued not only for their magic but their uniqueness and good hearts, he firmly believed every minute they spent with him would taint them, no matter what he did.

Their training got rougher every day, from strength to range, intensity and different applications; the kids would follow his every word blindly and it worried him.

"Good job today guys" the kids were resting on the floor still trying to catch their breath "There's something else we need to discuss" they sat up slowly and stared at him.

"You know when something really bad is about to happen and you get this feeling in your gut?" the kids nodded, they were so young, but they'd all experienced that feeling before.

"That's your instinct telling you something, and you should always learn to listen to what it tells you"

"What if we don't know what it means?"

"Well Miko, you'll need to figure it out. Sometimes the people leading you will make mistakes… and you can't stay quiet, you need to understand that when you are a mage, your life depends on the decisions you and your team make"

They were too young to understand the implications of his words, but they knew what he said made sense; of course, since they planned to remain together as a team with him leading them, they saw no problem since they trusted each other very much.

A week after, the kids were tired but excited about the results. Neri, the pretty five-year-old with orange hair had been able to grow plants from nearly nothing, to rejuvenate soil and make it rich and to create plants that could only exist in her imagination. She had created a small garden of her creation to the left of the castle, all filled with flowers of diverse colors that almost looked as if they had been painted on a real-life canvas.

Teiga, the tall and thin brown-haired six-year-old, was able to build structures from nothing more than soil and was currently practicing the use of dynamic magic to use for both offensive and defensive purposes. Natsu remember the big difference between Gray and Lyon's use of magic and had told the kid to always use both hands to make his magic stable.

Adae, the gray-blue haired four-year-old was able to use wind to her advantage, she wasn't super powerful yet but her latest trick was using wind to levitate a few inches from the ground, which for her age was a big accomplishment.

Calei, the tiny four-year-old with bad eyes, now… he had been a surprise to Natsu. Despite of him not being able to see well, his imagination knew no boundaries and all it took was for him to touch something or hear a good description to use the short memories he had to build incredible things.

Natsu knew, it would be hard to let them go, specially Miko and Calei who had gotten too attached to him in the short amount of time they spent there. Miko was an excellent mage, his aim was so good that he reminded Natsu of Biska and Alzack, and his firepower had improved so much that when he practiced, they had to put distance between then when he was taking it seriously.

It was already the end of the week, and Natsu's mind started to play games on him. He kept repeating to himself they needed more time, more training, and that it would be nonsense to let them go now, after all they had no one and who better to make sure they were safe than a group of people with immeasurable power?

He was snapped out of thoughts by his sad reality… whichever of his missions he completed would be his last, and then they would be left heartbroken and with nothing.

Shiro's mission had been to eliminate the dark guilds once they all joined forces, and he was still fond of that idea despite his desire to take the high council member out, but once he completed the ceremony, bonding his servants to him… the chances of him getting out alive were scarce.

On the other hand, Aporia had finally shared her plans or at least part of them; he was all for the challenge and a good chance to prove he was the strongest but… seriously? Taking on the Gods that he didn't even knew existed until a week prior was a bit excessive.

He would give them a good fight for sure, but all the stories she had heard mostly ended with them still high on their thrones which spoke greatly of their power.

Natsu's thoughts were all over the place, he was playing with the food on his plate when Miko's voice brought him back "You look like someone killed your dog…"

"I never had a dog, I had a cat and he is being well taken care of, thank you very much" Natsu flicked the kid on the forehead causing the rest to laugh.

The child rubbed his forehead and frowned "Jeez… that's what I get for asking…"

"Well, there is something I'd like to talk to you guys about… I think you are ready, you've proven that you are strong and with time you'll become stronger" the kids beamed with happiness at his words "Tomorrow we will test your abilities, so get some rest and be ready"

The next day the kids woke up extremely early to get ready, excitement could be felt in the air as their prepared for the challenge ahead.

Natsu wouldn't go all out on them, after all they had barely tapped into their magic in the two weeks they spent there "Ok, so there's only one rule… you'll have as much time as you need but this will only end after any of you manages to graze me" the kids smiled and separated immediately.

Miko was the first one to move, shooting energy towards Natsu which he dodged without an effort; as soon as he landed on the ground, the floor beneath him moved and he had to jump to avoid being sucked into a whole that formed out of nowhere, courtesy of Teiga.

"You are going to have to do better than that punks!"

"We haven't started yet! Cai!" for a second everything went dark which threw Natsu off, it looked very similar to when Arlo had locked him inside his own head and he had to remind himself this was just a game he was playing with the kids. Natsu turned his head and sniffed the air before jumping away from a root that tried to wrap around his feet, he heard Neri giggling but when he turned, she wasn't there.

Light came back, and he could see them standing in front of him, but for some reason their scent was all over the place and not exactly on them as it was supposed to be, he felt the breeze move his hair. Miko took a couple more shorts and pushed him back up to a three but when he was about to rest his back on it, he fell on his bottom while the kids chuckled, because of course... there hadn't been a three there to start with.

He stood up before the green thick vines got wrapped on his body and jumped away, he measured his landing but before his feet touched the ground, he felt a gush of wind push him up, he was able to use his fire to jump away, landing not far from where he originally planned.

The wind blew again, followed by dirt and creating a small twister around him, he heard a shot and dodged back to avoid the energy bullet when he felt something bite his arm. He had dodge, sure… but the energy bullet wasn't coming from his side but from the back and it grazed the skin below his shoulder. The tornado became thinner and thinner until he felt himself constricted and once it disappeared, he was effectively wrapped around hundreds thick vines.

"Woah, that was quicker than what I thought, how did you do it?" Miko had a proud smile on his face "Team effort, Tei used Ady's wind to hide Neri's vines for sight, since the moment things went dark for you, we were standing in places different than what you saw" his smile went bigger "Cai was in my place and I was in Cai's"

"So, the shot I heard? Cai how did you do that?"

"Illusions can be more than just images! Cool trick, right?"

"Very cool… how did you make everything go dark?" The kid thought a bit more "I imagined nothing, and then I placed it around you"

"That was some serious teamwork"

Miko's smile was too big for him to hide "Well… some weird looking guy told me that when you are a mage, your life depends on the decisions you and your team make"

Natsu felt something flood his chest, he had almost forgotten what pride felt like "Well done, why don't we go inside to get something to eat?"

The kids ran inside and took their places; they narrated with pride how they'd manage to graze Natsu's arm and explained how their planned developed. Mal was smiling at them "Sounds like you guys are becoming really strong!"

"Which is why I've decided it is time for us to find them a permanent home"

Every noise stopped in that second; Natsu took something from his plate and acted nonchalantly while Mal simply looked at him with a baffled expression, the rest paid no attention.

"W-why!? We are fine here, we don't want to leave" Adae's big blue eyes were filled with tears "Ady, I always said this was temporary, you can't stay here"

"Why…" Natsu turned to look at Neri "Because… it's not a good place for you"

"Bullshit!" Miko slammed his fist on the table "The place we were in wasn't good for us! This place is where we are supposed to be, with you and Mal! To be stronger and better, I thought we were a family now"

"Well I guess that's where you kids are wrong… I never promised a family I promised I would make you stronger and I did… What did you think was going to happen squirt? You thought I was going to love you? Adopt you maybe?" that stroke a cord in every single one of them; each had fantasied about staying with the dragon slayer who had accidentally saved them for a horrible life.

The kids looked down and said nothing "Look at me Miko!" the kid rose his eyes and Natsu could see fear on them "I'm a monster remember? A demon; I have no feelings for anyone… do you really think that would change because I spared you?"

Miko pushed his chair back and fisted his hands "You are a liar… you are a liar!"

"I never lied, you decided not to listen to what I said and that isn't my fault" Miko bit his lip, he tried to avoid the tears that were quickly forming in his eyes before signaling the kids to follow him, their little sobs echoed through the walls "You'll leave in the morning" he received no response.

Mal leaned closer to him and whispered, "You can't send them away"

"Oh, now you are telling me what I can and can't do? I though your original master told you to let me do as I wished…" Mal didn't have an answer for that, how could he tell him he had hoped the kids would help him recover what he thought was lost?

Helle leaned on the table and cleared her throat "Ahem…Don't you think you over did it?"

"Shut the fuck up… they need to leave, and that's final" he pointed his eyes at Aporia "You will take them tomorrow" she sighed "Why can't Chrysomallos do it? I thought he was the official babysitter"

"The kids are attached to him too… but you, they'll try to get away from"

"Not sure if I should take that as a compliment…" The Slayer hissed "Take it in whatever way you want… I don't care"

"Very well… where should we take them too?"

"Fairy Tail… Gramps would never turn a blind eye to kids in need" Natsu stood up and went to his room locking the door behind him before sitting on his bed with his knees up to his chest. He stayed like that for several minutes, listening to the noise fade away until everything was quiet.

That night there weren't any tiny footstep running in the aisles, no giggles nor laughter, it was just empty as it was at the beginning; he touched his cheek and noticed his hand was wet, the pang on pain was present again but this time… he knew he was crying, this time he was sure he was still there somewhere, he just had to find himself.

He didn't sleep, his mind kept drifting away and thinking about everything that had gone wrong and the image of Lucy kept popping into his head, her blond shinny hair, her big brown eyes and her internal light… the one that would never allow for darkness to overcome life, but now, without her… it just seemed as if darkness wanted to swallow him whole.

Before he noticed it was morning and he had to make sure the kids were taken away, he stood up on the aisle resting his back on the walls when he noticed, the smell of the kids was faint… they weren't there anymore.

"She took them away not long ago"

"Good… they need to be far away" Mal got closer and grabbed Natsu's arm, he tried to pull away but failed and he settled with looking away from his knight "You are hurting… why are you doing this to yourself"

"I can't get hurt anymore remember?"

"Keep telling yourself that Demon king… but we both know that's far from the truth" Natsu met Mal's eyes, his lip trembled a bit, but he contained himself "What's happening to me?"

* * *

It was barely morning when Aporia slammed the kids' door open startling them "I don't have all day… get your stuff ready"

The poor children moved with slow and heavy steps, still hoping for something to happen at the last minute, hopefully looking at the aisle that led to Natsu's room, but nothing happened. It took only a minute for them to be engulfed in the thick purple mist, they watched Aporia raise her hands and close her eyes.

It probably took no more than five minutes for the mist to dissipate but for the broken-hearted kids it was an eternal and painful moment they will never forget. Their eyes got accustomed to the light quickly and what greeted them was not a home, not anymore at least.

The guild looked dusty as if it had been empty for weeks, there were broken chairs and tables, broken glass everywhere and holes on the wall.

"Home sweet home kids" Miko grabbed her wrist "This is not the place! He said we would go to a permanent home, this is abandoned!"

"Well… that is not my problem, he instructed me to bring you here, and here you are" she pushed Miko away making him fall on the floor while the rest of the kids observed in shock.

"You… witch!" Aporia smiled at him "Indeed, that's a fitting description"

"He will have your head! He would never allow us to stay here!"

"Oh Miko… I doubt he cares but even if he does… he'll never find out and you'll never see him again" in the blink of an eye, Aporia surrounded herself with her mist and disappeared into nothing.

"W-what are we going to do now?" Ady held his hand tightly "We'll stay together just as he told us to"

They inspected the room and found very little provisions, but at least it would buy them time until they figured everything out. Neri was looking behind the bar when she came across an interesting finding, a photo album that had been hidden between the boards.

"Look! It's him!" the kids ran and looked at the picture she was pointing to; it had been taken after rebuilding the guild, all the members were outside holding each other, arms wrapped around their shoulders and smiling.

"I've never seen him smile like that" Neri flipped every page until she noticed something "Papa is always with this woman" Miko took the album and flipped through every page and just as his adoptive sister had said, the blond woman was in every picture Natsu was in, always by his side with his arm around her shoulders.

"Lucy… that has to be Lucy" the rest of the kids knew nothing of what he was talking about and stared at each other hesitantly before Teiga inquired "Who's Lucy?"

"I don't really know… but I know he dreams about her often"

"Maybe she is the reason his sad" everyone turned to Cai, his words seemed to click for them although they didn't know why.

"Well if she's the reason he is sad, then she can probably make him happy again, don't you think?" the kids nodded "So, we should probably ask around, people probably know her, and they may be able to point us in the right direction"

The kids put all the provisions they could find together and placed them in a room that they decided would be safe to stay in all together, it seemed it used to be an infirmary. Once they settled everything down, Miko took a picture of Natsu and Lucy from the album and they decided to walk through town to inquire.

They arrived at the market, there were too many people walking around, nothing like the either place where they used to live. They all walked holding hands to stay together until Miko stopped with a group of women talking and laughing in front of a fruit stand.

"Excuse me…" the woman paid no attention and he raised his voice "Excuse me!"

The owner of the stand was a middle age thick boned woman "Oh dear, sorry… we didn't see you there; are you kids lost?"

"No ma'am, we are looking for a friend" he got the picture out of his pocket and placed it in front of the women "Have you seen her? Her name is Lucy" the group said nothing, but he could tell their expressions shifted "You shouldn't be asking about her unless you are looking for trouble… and I strongly recommend you reconsider your friendship with that woman"

"Am… why?" the woman shook her head "That's nothing kids should be concerned about, here… take some apples" she handed him a small bag before the women continued ignoring them. They experienced similar reaction wherever they asked until they reached a small bookstore.

"Excuse me Miss? Do you know where our friend is?" she stared at the picture and handed it back "Where do you know her from?"

"We… don't really know her, but we know she can help us" she gave them a sweet smile "I'm afraid you won't find her in Magnolia… they were forced to run away by the magic council"

She could see the disappointment in the kids face "She used to live at the end of town with that boy from the picture… he's been gone for some time too… poor Natsu"

"You know papa!?" Neri said a little to excitedly while the clerk simply blinked a couple of times and stared at them "P-papa?" she nodded "Well, I d-didn't know he had kids" she pointed at Miko "You look a bit too old to be his…"

Miko couldn't avoid laughing at the girl's expression "Yeah, right? Anyways... you said she lived at the end of town?" the girl was baffled, and she simply nodded "Thanks miss! We'll see you around"

"S-sure, Goodbye Dragneels… I guess"

* * *

Lucy hated camping… most times Natsu had made it tolerable for her but now, it was just the means to survive. As if the bugs and mosquitoes weren't enough, the lack of restrooms and showers was something that bothered her too much; there was something dreadful about needing to find a place to take care of her human needs out in the open.

Despite of everyone's objections, she was adamant about doing her business by herself. Gajeel and Loke were not happy about that.

It'd been a couple of weeks since their departure and they where inside the Hidden Blades now; they didn't want to spend a long time there being so close to Crocus, and although they'd done their best to be discrete and careful they'd been found by the knights at least five times with the same exact outcome as before.

The knights would inquire if they'd seen a young tanned man with a red mark on his arm and a unique hair, and they would either get convinced that there was nothing there to find or they would recognize someone from Fairy tail which ended up in them getting knocked out and Mest removing their memories and dumping them somewhere far, which was the main reason why no member of the guild was to be left alone for more than a couple of minutes.

Lucy was buttoning her shorts and fixing herself up "A couple more weeks... it won't be long"

"Won't be long for what Miss?" she turned quickly to find not one for six knights standing no more than ten steps away from her. She looked at the distance, camp was close enough, but she would need to get pass them to get there which was unlikely to happen.

"Oh… sorry, I d-didn't see you there Sir" the knight smiled at her and nodded "Sorry to startle you, it was not our intention…"

"It's ok, nothing to apologize for… now if you don't mind, I have to get back to my family" Lucy smiled and as soon as she took a couple of steps forward, she bumped into an invisible wall.

"I'm afraid that's not possible Miss Heartfilia, you see… if we let you go your friends will surely get involved and we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Lucy's expression changed, she narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips "Gentleman… I strongly recommend you let me go, we haven't given any trouble and my friends will come looking for me soon"

"Then we should hurry" the knights crossed the invisible wall without issues and grabbed Lucy by her arms and legs, she fought until she was able to kick one of them on the chin throwing him back.

"Star dress! Taurus" the moment she summoned her star dress her magic started to spill from her like water and she felt dizzy "What… is happening"

The invisible wall blinked with a blue hue and letters started appeared on it _"Any magic use within the runes will be penalized with magic depletion. This will stop once the user cancels the magic"_

She didn't budge, she pushed more of her magic and ran towards the man punishing as much as she could until her magic energy was so scarce that she almost fainted. Just when she was about to give in to exhaustion a bright red light filled her sight and surrounded her with fire, her mind was on and off and the only thing she could think was that Natsu had come to her rescue.

The screams of the knights being burnt by fire brought her out of her stupor and when she looked up, she noticed the man standing in front of her burning the knights to ashes was not the love of her life, but someone she hadn't seen before.

The man had red bright hair, big red eyes and a golden armor and she remembered the stories her friends had told her, this was the man that had taken Natsu away from her. The screams had stopped and now only smoke remained coming from the bodies; a bright light appeared and suddenly Loke was standing between her and the golden knight.

"Lucy, what happened? I couldn't feel you…" she tried to stand up but stumbled until Loke's arms found her to help her up.

"The knights were here, they tried to take me until he showed up" Loke turned to the man and stared at him, there was something he recognize as not human about the man standing before him and soon realization hit him too… the hair, the armor, the strength.

"The Golden Ram…"

"In the flesh little lion… now, could one of you please explain what the hell am I doing here?" The celestial spirit all but snarled at him "How the hell would we know what you are doing here?"

"Where's Natsu?" Lucy pushed Loke away and stumbled her way directly to Mal and poked his chest "You are going to tell me right now or I swear to God!" she reached for her keys ready to go all out despite of having no energy left; she was surprised when Mal knelt and held her hand "My lady… I will tell you anything you want as long as you promise me one thing"

Loke stumped his way there after the initial shock of looking at one of his eldest taking such a submissive position and slapped his hand away from Lucy's "She will promise you nothing! Let go of her"

"What do you want?" The leader of the zodiac stared at Lucy with a baffled expression "Do not make any promises! This is clearly a trap!"

"Help him before is too late… it is all I ask of you princess" That did it for Loke "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO CALL HER PRINCESS! GET AWAY FROM HER"

"Loke! Stop this right now or I will force your door to close!" he flinched and bit his lip before crossing his arms above his chest "He is not completely lost, but I am afraid our current company will lead him that way… I… made a mistake but at the same time if I hadn't done it you would have died, and we would be looking at a worse outcome right now"

"I can still save him…" she whispered to herself, tears started forming on her eyes "OI! What is taking you so long!" Gajeel's voice came out of nowhere and as soon as he locked eyes with Mal, he rushed at full speed while pushing his iron club forward but stopped suddenly when Lucy put herself in the way of his attack.

"MOVE BUNNY!" she gave him a dead serious stare "Knock it off! He's here so we can help Natsu!" it took the slayer by surprised "Tsk… sure he is… he's the idiot that got him in trouble in the first place Lucy! Dammit when are you going to stop being this naïve?!"

"My Lady that is not completely accurate…" Lucy turned quickly "But you said…"

"I did, and I'm not lying, but that's not the reason I'm here… I am not sure how I ended up here to be honest"

Lucy reached inside her blouse and pulled the golden necklace holding the red ruby "I was scared and none of my spirits came because of the runes, could this be why you are here?" Mal scrunched his nose and shook his head "No, that could be used to summon me but once I'm contracted with someone it can't be used by someone else… maybe…" Mal rubbed his chin with his right hand "I mean… it's never happened but you and Natsu had proven to be a unique case; if for some reason during the blood contract the blood magic tangled with yours…"

A lightbulb went off in Lucy's head "The knights! They keep finding us!" she ran to the scorched bodies and searched through them with disgust until she found the lacrima screen she had seen before "They were using this to try to find Natsu" she handed it to Mal who carefully observed it.

"This is a location device, and that IS Natsu's blood… if we are right that means they'll be able to find you wherever you go"

"I can't put everyone else in danger…"

"You need to get away from your guild if you want to keep them safe, at least until we figure this out"

"Oi! Asshole! She ain't going anywhere without us…" Gajeel smiled "I'm sure shrimp is with me on this one…" Levy's voice came strong from behind the slayer "You're damn right I am!" Levy, Gray, Juvia, Erza, Jellal and Happy were right there, they had gotten worried when Gajeel took off and decided to follow.

"Whatever you decide to do now you need to know things could go really good or really bad… I'll find you soon and try to give you more details when I can but for now you need to get away"

They stayed silent and when they nodded Mal continued "Natsu will need all the help he can to regain his soul and it won't be easy. Get some distance between you and the rest; Oh! and make sure you bring the kids with you"

They all blinked a couple of times before Levy inquired "What kids?" Mal tilted his head and huffed "Well the ones we left at your freaking door a week ago, what other kids would I refer to?"

Lucy got closer to him and grabbed his hand "What's your name?" he lowered his head, feeling something was off and gulped "Chrysomallos, the golden Ram and leader of Ares' army… Natsu calls me Mal"

She tried to smile at him in a comforting way as he had done for Natsu many times before "Mal… we left the guild almost three weeks ago" he felt fire running through his veins, he stumbled back a bit before rubbing his forehead "No, no, no… DAMMIT!" fire flickered around him and Loke felt something constrict in his chest, he knew that feeling of desperation all to well. The zodiac leader took a few steps towards him "Who are they to you?"

Mal took a deep breath to try to compose himself "We got them out of Noctis Infirma at Natsu's request… it's a long story but Natsu and I trained them to make sure they could protect themselves… they got too attached to him… I know he was getting attached to them too, so he asked _her_ to take them to the guild… he said the old man wouldn't turn his back on them"

"Her?" the golden knight nodded "That evil witch he has for a grandmother… Aporia, she was supposed to take them to safety…"

"Grandmother?" It was too much information for Lucy and the rest to absorb "I… need to go… he is calling me. Listen! You need to get away, go somewhere far… my lady… I'll find you" she nodded and soon he disappeared in a flash of light.

"Where to now princess?"


	34. Chapter 34

**OK! I suck I know! Sorry it took me so long, work has been complicated and had a bunch of family commitments (Bdays and visiting 80+ year grandma who kicks ass and is too awesome, plus other grandma in the hospital)**

 **WELCOME to Chapter 34, I know when we reached 3o I said we were probably in the final 10, but I just realized that even if the chapters are longer it may take me a bit more to wrap it up since I don't want to cut everything suddenly and leave everyone like "uhm?"**

 **SO, hopefully you'll enjoy this one, there are a few hints here and there of what will happen.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"I don't care," said Seth. "I would have done it. I would have sold my soul for you. You and me...I told you. Something's always going to keep us near each other...even if we aren't together."  
― Richelle Mead, Succubus Heat**

* * *

Mal took a deep breath to try to compose himself "We got them out of Noctis Infirma at Natsu's request… it's a long story but Natsu and I trained them to make sure they could protect themselves… they got too attached to him… I know he was getting attached to them too, so he asked _her_ to take them to the guild… he said the old man wouldn't turn his back on them"

"Her?" the golden knight nodded "That evil witch he has for a grandmother… Aporia, she was supposed to take them to safety…"

"Grandmother?" It was too much information for Lucy and the rest to absorb "I… need to go… he is calling me. Listen! You need to get away, go somewhere far… my lady… I'll find you" she nodded and soon he disappeared in a flash of light.

"Where to now princess?"

* * *

The question Natsu had asked him still resonated on his head while he paced the castle deciding what to do… he had asked what was happening to him and Mal could sense all the painful feelings in his master's heart swirling and taking over.

If this was a tipping point, telling him what Aporia had done would probably send him spiraling into a rabbit hole too deep for him to reach out again, but if he didn't tell him then that could cause the little trust left over to crumble, that could lead to the exact same outcome; he knew it was all up to Natsu and whatever he did wouldn't change a thing.

He reached Natsu's room knowing he couldn't stall anymore and opened the door "You called?"

"Like ages ago… What took you so long?" Natsu frowned and arched his eyebrow "And why are you suddenly using the fucking door?" Mal gave himself a mental slap, of course that would be weird; in the couple of weeks they had spent together he rather enjoyed popping out of nowhere in a shower of bright lights simply to try to catch Natsu off guard.

"I thought I should practice respecting your privacy, so, what can I do for you?" Natsu could clearly see Mal was lying, but he decided to let it go since he had something more important to discuss "We need to talk"

The simple words made Mal flinched, In the eons the spirit had been around he knew nothing good came out of any situation where 'we need to talk' was used as an opening statement; he took a deep breath and prepared himself as best he could for whatever was coming his way.

He saw Natsu switching awkwardly from one foot to the other and chewing the inside of his cheek "I… need to know if I can trust you" Mal was about to open his mouth when the slayer cut him off "And I NEED you to really think about it because I have lots to say and if you can't be the person I need right now… I need you to tell me"

Mal stiffened, he wanted more than anything to be that person for Natsu, just as he'd been for his father before him; he had to make a decision now, one that he wasn't ready quite ready to face the consequences for.

"If I say yes…" Natsu arched his eyebrow while observing the spirit's nervous expression "look… trust goes both ways Natsu… You can trust me, but I also need to be able to trust you"

The Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes "Tsk… when have I done something to prove the opposite?" Of course, Natsu had followed his directions to perfection to save Lucy, he had trusted whatever was happening would fix everything and he had followed them blindly just to keep his family safe, but he didn't know that hadn't paid off…

"I need to trust you'll listen and that you are not going to let that hothead of yours get in the way" Natsu tilted his head; Mal's expression said much more to him than anything else, he could sense the struggle going inside the knight and for a moment he hesitated. He moved his head from one side to the other, analyzing the situation before stretching his hand.

"I guess we have a deal then" Mal gave him a half smile and shook his hand "I need somewhere where we can't be heard" Mal nodded and placed his hand on Natsu's shoulder, almost immediately a red and warm energy surrounded them making Natsu feel comfortable although he didn't understand why "She won't hear us as long as I'm here, I've learned a couple of tricks over the last centuries of dealing with her"

"Cool… ok… amm" Natsu rubbed the back of his head suddenly realizing he had no idea of what to say, he looked nervous or maybe anxious and Mal felt a bit of hope. Feelings were not black and white, there wasn't something entirely good or evil and just the fact that his master could feel troubled about something was enough for him to know that Natsu was still somewhere inside "I think there's something off with me, and I'm not necessarily unhappy about it, but… I'm worried"

Mal knew exactly where this was going, but he also knew that knowing too much could ruin everything else for his charge "I've been… feeling… sad mostly, but that's still says a lot"

The knight nodded in understanding "That's not bad at all"

"What if… if I'm still… Mal the whole purpose of losing my soul was for L…" he took a deep breath and tightened his fists "Lucy shouldn't die ok? If something happens to her, then everything I did was useless"

"Do you still love her?" Natsu frowned and lowered his face, that was a big question "I don't know"

"Then why would you care if she lives or dies?"

"Look… I saw what losing his humanity did to my brother and I'm not planning to do the same, I don't feel the love I used to, but I know this is what I would have done before, and I'll stick to it to make all this shit worth it"

"How do you feel when you think of her?"

"Jeez… can you stop that? I… long for her presence but… I don't feel that thing inside, you know what I mean?"

"Maybe if you saw her again? we could go after her Natsu, just…"

"No… I can't face her again; I need to let her move on before" He paused unsure of whether he should continue. The knight sighed and tightened his grip on Natsu's shoulder for reassurance "I said you could trust me"

"Look there are other things we need to discuss; when this whole thing started, the reason Shiro allowed me to walk away was so I could kill all of you"

"Oh… well… that's new, not surprising but new… you do know I'm almost immortal?" Mal smirked at Natsu while the Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes "Almost being the key word, right? Anyways… he predicted that I would do a blood bond with everyone once I came here and then I could roast everyone on sight"

"And of course, that would kill you, which will also kill me and Shiro could finally live happily ever after, something like that?"

"Yeah, sounds about right… And as you know Grandma of the year wants me to go berserk on Olympus or something"

"Which will most likely kill you and me, but will leave Shiro unprotected so she can kill him and fulfill Ele's dream, got it"

"SO… " Natsu crossed his arms above his chest and sighed "To summarize… I'm a kamikaze dragon slayer being used by a bunch of assholes! Am I missing something?" Mal sighed and smiled "Yes and No… So, the blood bond ceremony is in a bit over a week… I'll figure something out, ok? As for the rest we will have to play it by ear, your uncle is a deceiveful man and he has plenty of tricks under his sleeve"

"What Uncle? What the hell are you talking about" Mal slapped himself for a second time, of course Ria hadn't shared everything with him, she still wanted him under her thumb. He decided then he would be the one to try and square things up for his master, he had promised he was someone Natsu could trust and he would fulfill his promise to the best of his abilities.

"So… I told you I saved your father the day Helle died, your grandfather was going to sacrifice them to Ares in order to win the war his wife had convince him to fight"

"That's some bullshit!" Mal nodded "Stating the obvious… Anyways, his wife was pregnant at the time, and the child would grow up hearing the stories about the mighty sorceress killing his father, stories about his half brother surviving… he never found him, but he did find you"

"So? I didn't know anyone, why would he care enough to ruin me?"

"That's… a bit more complicated to explain, you see… your father was the first born male and therefore the heir to your grandfather's throne, after he figured out Ele wasn't human he kind of undid his union with her and took Shiro's mother to be his wife, and she wasn't planning on letting her baby boy be a backup option"

"Heir? Throne?" Natsu rubbed his face with both hands in frustration "WHAT THE FUCK? When did I leave my life and jumped into a fucking fantasy book!?"

Mal almost laughed at the ridiculous comment "Oh says the 400-year-old man that was raised by a Dragon?..."

"You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, I do… anyways, things changed, the king died, and society evolved and healed which led to the fall of the royal family and the introduction of the current one, but for Shiro he lost all of that because of your family, he won't rest until he completes his vengeance"

"Well that bastard may not be king, but he is in a high enough place to make it happen… how has he lived this long?"

"Weeell, the Gods have a war of their own… against you apparently" Natsu huffed and pouted in a childish way which made Mal laugh, somewhere in there was the same stubborn child he wanted to see "How did I piss these many people off?! I didn't even know they existed!"

"Apollo prophesied that someday there would be people powerful enough to bring the Gods down, they believed those were your father and Helle but when they died well… they knew they've made a mistake, and then you and your brother came along" Mal looked down at his feet "Apparently there were many concerns and debates about you two" Mal shook his head "When you died, your brother slowly became too powerful and Apollo thought he could be one of those people, then Zeref became obsessed with bringing you back they decided to ostracize him for his sins"

"Ankhseram…"

"The contradictory curse… the more he loved the more he would kill, they thought that was enough to prevent him from bringing you back, they thought it would be enough to break him… even when they foresaw him meeting Mavis, they figured she would die, but no one could have foreseen what happened"

Natsu felt a pang of pain, his brother had been a puppet in the Gods' plan "But he died… after everything, I helped get rid of him"

"You did what needed to be done, Zeref had gone too far… you became much more powerful than what anyone expected and surviving against all odds and you… found her"

"Her?" there was a moment in which his brain started running and his breath got caught in his lungs "Lucy?"

"She is the one that makes you stronger, think about it…"

"No…"

"How many times did you play with the line of life and death only to be brought back by her voice?"

"No, I…"

"Or pushed yourself to the point of no return to keep her safe"

"Stop this…"

"How many times did she? You keep each other strong"

"She is not a part of any of this!" Fire flickered dangerously around Natsu, his fists were shaking. His determination to keep her safe was stronger than ever; he had been unable to see the strings of the Gods wrapped on his brother because he didn't even remember him, but Lucy… he wouldn't allow them to have her.

"I'm afraid destiny may not agree with you" Natsu wanted to pull away, but he knew the only thing keeping Aporia away from this conversation was his contact with the knight "Bullshit!… I was not even meant to be in this time! I was born and died four hundred fucking years ago! She wasn't even in the cards yet; do you understand that?"

Mal gave him a knowing smile while squeezing his shoulder again "The only thing that means is that the connection you have with her is so strong that it was meant to be carried through time… I believe you were always meant to find her"

"I-it can't be…" Natsu closed his eyes, still trying to find reasons to fight Mal's words; his mind drifted away to Hargeon, how he had found Lucy while searching for Igneel, how he'd simply taken her hand to bring her back home without hesitating and then stayed glued to her as if they knew each other since birth, the fact that despite of knowing how Lisanna felt… he could never feel that type of love for her, and how he had refused to connect with anyone after she died until Lucy burst into his life like the Northern star meant to guide him home.

Destiny was a stone-cold bitch with a vendetta against him, he was sure. Orchestrating his life to the point of true bliss only to send him back crawling to the depts of hell, and he was sure… if there was such a thing as a God or Goddess of destiny, it would taste the fire of his fists before anyone else.

"Was all of this for nothing?"

"I… don't know" he sighed heavily and scrunched his nose "What I'm not sure is why if Ria's plan is for you to take down her enemies, she was so adamant about getting you away from Lucy, after all if what Apollo saw is true, then his prophecy speaks about both of you"

"That's an easy one…" Natsu gave a half-hearted smile, his face still looked concerned but he couldn't help but stating the obvious "Her heart is too big… she would never hurt anyone if she can avoid it and the thought of having her annihilating any Celestial beings is out of the question, it would crush her and I would never do anything to hurt her" he bit the inside of his cheek, that was no longer true; he had done everything to hurt her, he had lied, manipulated and abandoned her and all of their family.

Not only was that his concern but he realized that has an automated response for him, the answer was simply the one he would have given a couple months back, but now it seemed to lack importance.

"You should be together… I'll bring her here and once you figure stuff out…"

"I said no" Mal grunted but the dragon slayer cut him off quickly "What if I see her and I don't feel anything? That would crush her, I can't do that to her"

"Natsu… come on" he shook his head "Even then… I couldn't go back to Magnolia without putting everyone in danger" Mal lifted his eyes to look at the ceiling and scratched his chin with his index finger causing the slayer to stare inquisitively "What?"

"Am… yeah about that…"

"Mal?" He scrunched his nose "How can I say this, they… she…"

"Cut the crap, what is it?" the knight sighed "Can you promise me you'll try to keep yourself calmed?"

"On Mavis… if you don't tell me what's going on right now…"

"They aren't in Magnolia anymore… the council told them to disband or be considered as a dark guild… and they decided to stay together"

It took him about two seconds to interiorize the information he had heard before exploding "WHAT? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN AND WHY DID WE NOT KNOW ABOUT THAT?" Mal frowned and shook his head "We are a long way from Magnolia… and… this happened about three weeks ago"

"Dammit!" The slayer rubbed his face, anger and self-hate raising until a simple thought popped into his head "Shit! T-the kids were sent there a week ago… Mal…"

"I know…"

"She said… she…" Natsu's eyes blinked amber and his magic spiraled without control causing the spirit to throw himself back because even as an immortal… burns would still hurt like a bitch; Mal saw how the slayer's expression changed to something even he would be scared of… all the humanity left in him disappeared in a split second before he sent his flames towards the door that cause the entirety of the structure to shake, the explosive noise echoed through the walls before he started stomping his way through the aisle until reaching the grand hall.

The place had changed, there were more tables now where the head of each dark guild and their second in command would join their all-powerful leader and his family, and although Natsu had avoided spending any time with them that was not something he was thinking about at the moment,

Mal walked closely behind him still trying to shake off the image of Natsu's cold stare; he would stand by his master no matter what even if that meant starting a war they weren't ready for.

" **APORIA**!" the room shook in a second with the resonating gravity of his voice, it sounded more like an animalistic roar than the voice of a man and it shook everyone present to their very core. The temperature rose to the point where people didn't know if they were sweating from the sudden heat or their nerves from facing the Demon King.

The dark guild leaders didn't dare to move in case that would bring an attack to them; they had barely seen Natsu and had mostly only heard rumors about the terrible Dragon and his hellish fire; they stared in fear as their leader walked with heavy steps that broke the stone under his feet, each step sending a bolt of electricity through everyone's spine.

"My Prince…" Natsu stopped all internal control in that moment, he allowed his wings to come out of hiding shredding his sleeveless vest; his scales slowly crawled out until they covered his arms, chest and back, even the demon horns he would usually try to avoid were now out in the open. The guild leaders gasped and coward back as much as they could under the circumstances, this was the first time their leader showed himself in what they believed was his true form.

The temperature rose to a dangerous degree and it was noticeable by the sweat running down their foreheads; a bit of smoke rose from the tables closest to him as Natsu's fists shook in anger.

"Is there something wrong?" Aporia's stoic expression sent him over the edge; it took less than a second for him to send a spiral of fire towards her, most of it was stopped by Helle's water by a tiny inch, she stared at him with both surprise and anger, but he didn't care. Natsu's took a big jump, sending his fist through the table and once he landed on the floor, he placed his hands on the chair's arm rest to hold Aporia in position and placed his face mere inches from hers.

The armrests started smoking, tricking her nose, but she kept her face as cold as ever "You fucking lying traitorous bitch, I'm going to enjoy ripping you to fucking pieces…" In a second Helle and Nephele jumped to her help, sadly for them… this didn't go unnoticed by the angry Dragon.

He straightened his back and willed his fire to cover his wings, if it hadn't been the scariest thing they had seen, it would have been a majestic sight, almost like the wings of the mythical Phoenix. His red scaled shone a dark red before he flapped them in such a way that they had no choice but to stand back to protect themselves from the unbearable heat.

Ria's emotionless face was making him angrier by the minute, so, he grabbed her by the neck and pulled her up "Natsu let her go!"

"How can you defend her! Do you know what she did!?" Helle shook her head, a few pleading tears rolled down her face "It doesn't matter! She is family"

"Family?" Natsu chuckled and tightened his grip on her neck unable to hold himself together "Fucking family! I should have crushed you on the day we met… Those kids were more family than you people will ever be…"

Helle took a step back, she didn't understand what was happening; for a second, she met her mother's eyes and noticed she turned away quickly before holding her hand to her chest "Mama… what is he talking about?"

"Tell me where you left them… or I swear on my parents' souls I will find a way to crush your body to pieces so small that you will never be able to put yourself back together"

Despite the struggle and lack of air, she gave him a crooked smile "F-Fairy T-tail… just as you told me to, My prince" he pushed her against a wall without loosening his grip "Do not play me for a fool! You know exactly what you did!"

She had no fear in her eyes, he felt his frustration oozing through his magic and pushed her against the wall one more time "Natsu! Don't!" he heard Mal yell and frowned… he had agreed to trust him he knew it but gaining back his control was harder than what he though. He bared his fangs and growled before releasing his grip causing the dark-haired woman to fall on her knees.

He could see the scorched skin of her neck along with the bruising he had left behind and felt a sense of accomplishment. Natsu lowered himself to whisper in her ear "You better hope they are found safe and sound before my patience runs out Ria… next time… your neck will be the least of your concerns"

He stood up still trying to push his fire back in place; he could hear every heartbeat in the room and smell the stench of fear coming from the guild leaders and he didn't regret it. It would be good for them to understand that even if Aporia was scary… they hadn't seen the worse yet.

Natsu turned to his followers and expanded his wings in a display of strength and authority before whispering "Mal…" there was no answer, but he knew the spirit had left as soon as his name was mentioned.

Natsu's amber eyes were fixated on Aporia in a defying way, all his instincts telling him she was pray; his blood was boiling at the sight of her face that still held her crooked emotionless smile while she rubbed her throat trying to ease the sensation his hands had left behind. He knew if he stayed, he would lose it; Natsu turned around, his hands fisted on his sides and walked back to his now doorless room.

It didn't take long for Helle to stand on the threshold "You shouldn't have done that" he didn't turnback to look at her, he had his arms crossed above his chest while he held himself to avoid doing something that may derail any possibilities of him fixing what was already broken.

"I will do as I please… if you want to keep being her lapdog then that's your choice" she walked inside and stood right in front of him, his eyes still amber but slowly fading back to their natural color "I am no one's lapdog! Take it back!"

"No, you do as they want you to do and get punished when doing the opposite, that sounds like a lapdog to me" her jaw tightened and without thinking her hand met his cheek with enough force to make her skin feel the tingling burning sensation, but he didn't even flinch.

Instead he met her eyes and she saw the disappointment in them right away, it was a look similar to the one her brother gave her when she acted like a brat and for some reason it made her take a step back. Her beloved brother had always been what kept her from the edge and seeing her nephew holding the same look on his face shook her "Did you know Helle? What she did… did you know?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, Natsu" he nodded, he knew deep inside Helle was a puppet for his grandmother, however the role her mother played was still something he didn't understand "She left the kids at the guild"

The water spirit rolled her eyes in a childish way and placed her fist on her hips "Well genius… you asked her to" he hissed, his eyes changing to anger, and she bit her lip knowing whatever button she pushed was a dangerous one "The guild has been abandoned for weeks, the council is hunting down Fairy Tail as a dark guild now"

"I'm sure she didn't know; do you really think she would…" he turned and locked eyes with her "I do, I think she knew exactly what she was doing… after all they were just a distraction, weren't they?"

Helle opened her mouth to say something but there wasn't anything to say, she didn't want to believe her aunt would go that far, but did she have any reasons to believe otherwise? Her brain ran in every direction, some ideas telling her to trust her family, some telling her she knew better… it all stopped with Natsu's next words.

"You mother didn't look surprised…" The water nymph shook her head, tears flooded her eyes causing for dark clouds to form on the sky, her sobs matched the thunder outside of his window, and in that second his lip curled up a bit in a comforting way as memories flooded his mind.

He reached out and cleaned a tear from her cheek "You know… I met a girl once that was haunted by rain for years, it turned out she was always sad" Helle tried to clean her face and looked back at him while he walked to the window "How did she stop the rain?"

Natsu shrugged, his smile slightly bigger than before "She found her sunshine I guess… a force so strong that it would keep the clouds of her life away" an image of Gray and Juvia popped into his head and sent another bolt of pain to his heart; he was afraid for them, for him… but mostly for Lucy, feeling was something he missed but it that caused her to die, missing her existence would be far more than what he could take.

* * *

The knight needed no instruction, he immediately transported to the empty guild and the sight was something sad to see. The place looked gray and broken, it seemed as if no light would ever be allowed in, as if it had been abandoned for ages but he knew… it was because the light came from its people and not its walls.

He searched the place from top to bottom, going through the broken chairs and tables, the bottles thrown carelessly on the floor; he walked through the guildhall while the cracking sound of glass echoed with his every step. Of course, the kids had been there… there were tiny plants coming out from underneath the boards, shot marks on the floor and even a kid size golem next to the stairs. Mal walked inside the infirmary to find all the mattresses together on the floor, several items scattered around, cans, paper, pencils… there were two things that caught his attention.

He leaned down to pick an old photo album. Its cover was brown and worn out but the engraved golden letters were still visible "Fairy Tail"; he saw the first picture depicting a short, blond girl with three weird looking man standing in front of the guild; every page he passed had more and more people until the faces changed to some he recognized, Natsu, Lucy and their friends.

Mal sighed hoping one day he could return all this happiness to Natsu before leaning to pick the second object; it looked like a manuscript with hundreds of pages of an organized and beautiful handwriting the first page said it all "Name: Chasing Dragons – Author: Lucy Heartfilia"

There was no sign of the kids, but he waited; he hoped that they would be scouting their surroundings and running around like they usually did. The tic toc of the clock was the only thing that could be heard while he sat on one of the few chairs that was still in one piece; he tapped his foot on the ground, impatience growing inside while guilt corrupted his mind.

He stood up from time to time and paced what used to be the guildhall, he hadn't been this worried since Phrix was a child and wondered outside of Igneel's nest.

The "Ifs" were resonating in his head… If he had been able to save Helle too, if he had stayed by Phrix' side, if he had been honest to Natsu since the start, if he hadn't let Aporia make the decisions while he stayed safe and sound in his peaceful celestial place drowning in sorrow for the death of his friend, mourning the loss he could have prevented.

The clock sang its midnight song and he knew there wouldn't be any tiny steps any time soon, no laughter, no peace when he went back to the castle to give the news that will surely only break whatever was left of Natsu's heart further. He went back home; the words were funny for him because now he understood Natsu… that was a gray cold building that held no love and it wouldn't unless he did something about it.

Bright lights announced his arrival to his master's chamber only to find him sitting in bed, holding his legs with his head between his knees.

"Did you find them?" the words wouldn't come out of his mouth, but giving no response was apparently response enough "I see…"

"They were there, I don't know for how long… the had these" he dropped both books on the bed, it took a minute but after Natsu composed himself he reached out with shaky hands, he picked the album but as soon as he lifted it, his eyes caught sight of something precious to him… Lucy's manuscript.

"They were in my house… this… this was supposed to be in Lucy's library, maybe they stayed there" Mal shook his head "All their things were at the guild…"

"We should still check, shouldn't we?"

"I'll do that tomorrow, and I'll try to visit town to ask about them" Natsu gave him a weird look "Not wearing that… you think a guy with red hair and red eyes wearing a golden armor won't raise suspicion? Jeez Mal…"

Natsu got up and took some stuff from the closet "Pants, shirt, boots. I'll go with you to the guild and my house, but I need to stay away from town, so, be discrete, I know you'll be fine, but we don't want any unwanted attention"

"You going back is too dangerous, and I still need to figure out how to deal with the blood bond…" Natsu shrugged "Multitask… we need to know where they are before it's too late and my nose is way better than yours, at least I can tell how fresh their scent is"

"Fine…" Mal grabbed Natsu and placed his hand between his back and scapula "What are you doing?" something felt like burning, not painful but weird "I'm placing a mark on your back, this way Aporia won't be able to track you or hear you, but I will"

"Couldn't you have done that since the beginning?!"

"No, she needed to think you were in her pocket, now since you've openly displayed your anger towards her, she won't be surprised"

"Why on my back though?" Natsu though about the engraved black marks on his back and closed his eyes "There's enough stuff there already" Mal rolled his eyes "Because as long as you keep your shirt on, she won't know how you did it, and when you have it off your wings and scales will cover it"

"No running around shirtless, got it" Natsu thought for a second "Can she see whoever she wants?"

"I don't think so, they need to be marked or blood I think"

* * *

A week prior, the kids had left the library and followed the woman's instructions. They walked all the way until the dirt road and went up to find a house with a wooden sign in the shape of a cat's face on the front "Natsu, Lucy & Happy"

"This is it! We found it!" Miko ran to the door and opened it right away to find a well standing place, not as trashed as what he'd thought they would find. They walked around the house and stood in front of the big wall facing the living room where Natsu kept memories of their missions, pictures and other keepsakes.

"Woah…"

"Miko! I can't read, what does it say?" Adae pulled on his pants leg and pouted "Well, they seem to be mission requests, there are so many!"

"Did papa do all of those?!" Miko smiled "Mhm, sure looks like it"

"Look! There are more pictures of that pretty blond! And a blue cat!" Neri's eyes were glowing at the sight of the feline "He's so fluffy!"

They went around the house, raided the kitchen for supplies and then found their way to Natsu's room. It looked like a mess, clothes scattered everywhere since Lucy have had to make a hasty departure.

Cai walked inside, he was more confident now trusting his senses and went straight to a drawer on the side of the bed which had a medium wooden chest on top "This… Miko, what's this?"

The older kid walked to it and opened the chest to reveal lots of folded paper "Seems to have a bunch of letters"

"There's something to it, it's special… I don't know it seems to have something" Miko picked up the letter on the top and opened it.

 _"Dear mama,_

 _I miss him so much, I never knew something could hurt this much… what did we do to deserve this? Why have the stars forsaken us mama?_

 _I will spend the rest of my days looking for him in everyone's face, when you told me one day I would find my true love I never expected for it to happen like this, so sudden, so painful but now that I've known happiness I can't forget about him, no matter how much he wants me to._

 _Mama I'll find him no matter what it costs, if I lose myself, I hope you can forgive me for wasting the precious life you fought so hard to preserve, but life without him… is no life at all._

 _I love you… your daughter, Lucy H"_

He kept opening letters and reading them aloud to the other kids, and they felt a pang of pain in their chests "She loved him so much, why did he leave her?"

Miko shook his head "I don't know, but we need to find her… he misses her and I just know if we get them together everything will be ok" they left the room and went upstairs to inspect; all the rooms were empty expect for one and when they went inside they couldn't avoid gasping at the image.

The telescope was a magnificent thing to behold since none of them had ever seen one before, and they found themselves wondering who Natsu had been before they met, the pictures had told them the story of a smiling man, surrounded with friends, which was too different to what they've seen.

They adored him either way, he had been someone that had saved them, and no one would ever know how much he'd done for them in just a couple of weeks. Natsu had given them their self confidence back, he had showed them that they could be strong if they decided to and had treated them with kindness; the kids had experienced very little of that before and it was easy to confuse that kindness with love, so in their minds… Natsu had loved them like no one had before even if it was for such a short period of time.

Miko got closer to the desk and found the manuscript carefully wrapped in brown paper and tied with a ribbon, he picked it up before turning around "Well, I don't think she'll be coming any time soon, we should head back"

The rest of the kids nodded but the feeling around them was a general sadness. They held hands and walked outside the house and through the dirt path until they reached town, none of them noticed the looks in people's faces while they did.

Once they returned, Miko opened some canned food and they sat in the infirmary where they had placed the mattresses close together; he decided to open the carefully wrapped package he had gotten from Natsu's house and noticed it was extremely clean and neat, so, he put it aside, cleaned his hands and picked it back up.

"What's that?" Teiga was about to put his hand on it when Miko slapped it away "Wash your hands first! It's a book… something Lucy wrote"

"Can you read it to us?" Cai rested his head on his hand and stared at Miko who smiled and nodded. The first chapter described a scene where a priestess was left in cliff all dressing white, her hair gently moved by the ocean breeze while she waited; her elders had chosen her as a sacrifice to please the fearful monster from a nearby island who according to their records demanded a sacrifice every 100 years.

Miko read each word describing how while the sun moved to make space for night, the wind got stronger and she knew that had nothing to do with her closeness to the ocean; the sounds of wings flapping closer every time told her that time was up, and she took a deep breath before looking up. It was dark, she couldn't see a thing, but she could feel the warmth of something big close to her, it was strangely soothing in the cold of the night.

The kids gasped when he reached the parts where the monsters claw became visible once it was close enough to her, but there was no fear in her eyes… she just smiled and that cause the claw to stop.

 _"Why are you smiling?"_ she looked at him with tearful eyes _"Because today my life has new meaning, I will provide the ultimate protection to my people and there is nothing more precious for me than that"_

Miko's eyes widen as he read "The monster had remained silent and retracted his claw before changing his form to a smaller human looking one" While he read, the rest of the kids got closer and closer every time completely entranced by the beauty of the words written on a simple paper; he continued to the part of the chapter where the now human looking creature stared at his victim with confusion and wondered why despite of knowing this was her end, she should smile.

"He yelled at her "I am a Dragon! The king of them all and you are nothing but a fragile creature! Why aren't you afraid!?" she looked at him and her smile went away before shaking her head "You don't get it, I've been chosen… all my life they've told me this would be my purpose and I'm happy to fulfill it" the dragon tilted his head, still not understanding but he recognized something they shared, she had been chosen and raised to be slaughtered, he had been chosen and raised to be king and to follow this ancient and gruesome tradition"

Miko smiled noticing his friends' eyes looking tired and closed the manuscript "And now is time for bed!" there was a lot of whining but eventually they all took their places and drifted away quickly after that. He stayed awake for a while wondering if Lucy had written that thinking of Natsu as the Dragon king, he wondered if by reading the story he could figure out what had happened.

The next morning, they woke up one on top of other and pushing themselves with a grunt; they sat down to eat something and practice their magic a bit.

They were proud of their accomplishments, Cai would throw a pebble and Miko would fire at it making it no more than mere dust; Teiga had been able to build a solid guardian form although he still struggled with making it dynamic; Neri however preferred her magic to be neither offensive or defensive and trailed her fingers on the floors prompting small flowers to pop everywhere.

She knew, if it came to it her magic would defend her, but he preferred her plants to stay living, soothing, beautiful… just as they were meant to be.

They walked back through the village in the same way they had done the previous day, except this time when they approach the same stand to purchase some apples the lady went immediately inside and closed the door, same happened with the next stores they tried to visit. They decided to visit the library next but to their surprise, the door was wide open and there was no one inside.

"I don't like this, Miko…" Teiga rubbed his arms in an attempt to feel safe "Let's keep going… we need to find something to point us in the right direction… we'll pick our things up after that and we'll leave, there's something wrong about this place"

They kept walking while people avoided to stare, some whispers remained behind as they moved through the paved streets all the way until the dirt path again and soon, they found themselves facing the door to Natsu's house.

Calei pulled Miko's sleeve stopping him from moving forward, he had sensed something inside; the nature of his magic was incredible and unknown, his lack of sight had prompted him to use what he felt around him to guide his steps and to see the energy that flowed throughout things, and in only took one person telling him the sky was the limit "There's someone inside…"

They all stopped except for Adae who ran and sent a gush of wind towards the door to open it "Maybe she came back!"

"Adi! Wait!" it was useless, she had stepped inside, and they had to follow her. They stood and held their breath while staring at a mountain of a man sitting on the couch of the now trashed living room, shadows slightly masking his features while he seemed to be cleaning something from his nails; his tanned skin was filled with scars and his raven hair fell loosely on his forehead barely allowing them to see that he seemed to have a problem in one of his eyes.

"Took you long enough to get here" the kids said nothing and once he stood up, they took a step back; he seemed even taller than before "W-What are you doing here? This isn't your house" Miko tried to stand tall but no matter what he did he was nothing in comparison to the man before him. It was almost as if he was pushed back by something invisible and no matter how brave he tried to be the feeling of imminent danger crawled its way into his heart.

"Well, but it is yours, isn't it… Dragneels? That's what that town's woman called you, isn't it?"

"You shouldn't be here" The man gave them a wicked smile "I'm an old friend of your pops" the man walked closer and with a swift move he punched Miko on the face throwing him against the wall and making his nose bleed "MIKO!" Neri placed her hands on the wooden floor by instinct and pushed her magic down causing roots to come out of it and wrap themselves on Arlo's arms. She steadied her breathing and remembered Natsu's words.

 _'Remember to pace yourself or you'll get exhausted, nothing is too much as long as you guys stay together, you've got this'_

She took a deep breath, pushing more energy into the roots to make them thicker; Neri smiled widely when he saw him struggling but when she stared at his face, she noticed him smiling too and he hesitated for a second too long.

He pulled his arms with strength and broke the roots before everything went dark for them "I can't see! Miko! Teiga! Adi! Cai!" she heard them yell before hearing Arlo's laughter "Yeah, your pops didn't like it when I made it dark either…"

Cai took a deep breath, placed his right foot in front to take something similar to a fighting stance by bending his knees, he stretched his right arm and raised his index finger before placing his left before his chest also holding his index up "Oh, we have a live one over here… what do you think you are going to do little piece of shit?!"

"You can't take away something that wasn't there" Cai closed his eyes and opened them a second later; Arlo saw the kid's eyes shining with a light blue hue "Light!" his index fingers separated to the sides and before Arlo knew it everything he saw was too bright, he couldn't focus on any image; he screamed painfully and rubbed his face before he started moving carelessly and throwing punches around in hopes he would get one of them.

He stumbled on a small figure and grabbed hold of something thin before squeezing, successfully breaking Adae's wrist which made her yell, this caused Cai to lose focus and as soon as Arlo could see shades, he jumped Cai and slammed his head against the floor.

There was a lot of blood, Cai was laying there and the only hint that he was alive was the shallow movement of his chest. Arlo grabbed him by the neck and looked at the kids "I am not above killing kids, but unfortunately I have been instructed to take you alive… so…" he threw some handcuffs on the floor and pointed at Miko "Chain yourselves… I'm sure they won't notice one less kid" he squeezed a bit harder on Cai's neck "Stop it! We'll go with you!"

Miko chained each kid to the next before chaining himself "Here's your death weight" Arlo carelessly threw Cai on the floor and Miko did his best to carry him.

Arlo kept rubbing his eyes trying to get rid of the burning sensation while pulling painfully on the chains attached to them. They were paraded through town where people stared with sad expressions, but no one did anything to help.

* * *

Mal appeared on Natsu's room early in the morning "Are you ready?"

"Yeah… how are we going to do this? Can you take us there?" Mal nodded "I can but it's going to feel like shit, so… hold your breath"

For Natsu that felt as if throwing his stomach in a blender smashing it to pieces several times over, but he could stand through it as long as he could help find the kids. They appeared on the outside of his house, where they've been last.

His eyes inspected the place, the charcoaled ground where he had fought his friends and killed Merryl brought back some pain to his heart, he had crossed too many lines to ever face them again, but maybe that was for the best… at least they would stay away from him.

There was something off... he could smell the kids on the house and the scent was faint but when he got the hint of a strong smell he knew well, he panicked and ran inside "Natsu! Wait!"

He slammed the door open and stood there, his eyes went wide while his nose told him everything he needed to know "They… he…"

"Blood…" Mal sighed "Is that…?"

"Cai and Miko… that's their blood" Natsu rested his back on the wall and slid all the way to the floor, his fist shaking in a mix of anger and despair "He is going to end them… he… is going to take all his hate for me out on them"

"Natsu, what are you talking about?"

The Dragon slayer immediately rubbed the skin below his neck "He almost cost me my sanity, and I cost him one eye…"

This wasn't good and Mal knew it, he cursed all he stars and slammed his fist on the wall "Stay here… I'll go to town and see if anyone knows something" Natsu covered his face; his memories were awful but thinking the kids would go through the same thing he did or even worse was much more than what he could stand "The blood is old Mal… probably 4 days old… they've been with him for days if they are even still alive"

"Don't say that just yet… just wait here"

Mal ran down the path and into town like a man on a mission, losing them would probably mean losing Natsu and he cursed himself for allowing things to get this bad. They had decided not to attract attention but at this point he was too desperate to take his time so, we stood in the middle of the market and took a deep breath before cupping his hands around his mouth.

"LISTEN! I am looking for 5 kids! Three five-year old's, a girl with orange hair and green eyes, two boys one with one tall with brown hair and one short with very clear eyes, a four-year-old with blue hair and a ten-year-old with black hair"

People avoided his eyes and he started to lose his patience "I know they were here! Someone must have seen them" even he could smell the fear coming from them, he didn't need a Dragon's nose to tell something bad had happened.

He heard people gasp and when he turned around Natsu was walking towards the middle of the square, dragging his feet, fists ablaze and a dark expression; he took a few steps closer and looked at each of his sides to the people he had once considered friends cringe in fear.

"I'm sorry… did he stutter? Where are they!?" he could hear every heartbeat and harsh breath, every time they gulped, and his patience was running thinner by the second; he fisted his hand and punched the floor creating a charcoaled hole.

"Why are you after them?" Natsu looked up, the man was scared… that he was sure of, but he stood there in front of his wife and kid while everyone else was frozen in place "Why do you care? You people only worry about your own…"

The man gulped, then nodded and took one step forward "That may be very well true… but I want to believe that Miss Lucy was right when she said we were unfair and judgmental to you and that we didn't know the whole story" Natsu widen his eyes, she had faced town on her own because of his decisions and he couldn't even imagine Lucy being that harsh on people she liked.

Natsu stood up and crossed his arms "They are just kids who got caught in the middle, I just want to take them to safety" a tiny voice came from behind and Natsu immediately recognize it "They came looking for Lucy" the woman from the bookstore that Levy and Lucy loved to visit looked like she had seen better days.

She had a big bruise on her left cheekbone and a sling on her right arm and he was sure that was only what could be seen; he let go of his fire and got closer to the woman, not enough to scare people but enough so she wouldn't have to yell.

"They were here about a week ago… they had this picture of you and Lucy and asked around town if someone had seen her, they got to my store and I told them… I told them she was gone" she bit her lip and sobbed "T-they said they were your kids… someone must have overheard because the next day that awful man came in to my shop to ask about them"

Natsu sighed and wondered, why did someone always needed to be caught in the middle "I tried not to tell him anything, but he…" he shook his head and placed his hand on her left shoulder which made her tense up "Not your fault… that man has a way of getting what he wants in the most awful way"

People were staring, weren't they standing before the personification of evil? The monster who haunted their dreams at night with visions of fire and death? The first man that had spoken to him got closer "He walked them through town and chained them in the middle of the square under the sun for hours before the council came in"

Mal slightly shook his head at the man silently pleading for him to stop, but it was too late; he could feel the fire inside Natsu rising again, his eyes shifting to a bright amber in a dangerous way and he felt useless; he noticed his friend's skin glistening like when his scales would appear and feared what would happen if his other form made an appearance in the middle of the square.

"Natsu… we should go" he was shaking from anger, he looked at the people around him and noticed them cringing "Were they alive?" the man nodded "A tiny one was bleeding from his head and they all looked bruised, but…"

The Dragon Slayer looked at the man; his eyes filled with anger and hate, fire and darkness… whatever kindness they had noticed seconds ago was gone and a coldness like no other had occupied its place "But?" the man held his face up in an attempt to show he was not scared although Natsu could smell the fear oozing through his pores.

"But they held his stare… their eyes were filled with fire, just like yours are now… he tried to break them, we all watched, and I am sorry for that… but we couldn't…" the man sighed "No matter how hard he tried they kept their faces up…"

Something in the man's words touched a cord in Natsu and slowly but surely his shoulders relaxed, and his tanned skin stopped glistening. They were being brave, because he had thought them no one could tell them they weren't strong… he had told them no matter who the enemy was, things were never lost as long as they held their heads up and kept trying… and they were, so, he would too.

He nodded at the man and looked at Mal who seemed relieved "We'll be going now…"

"Natsu…" the librarian took a step towards him "They aren't really your kids, are they?" he smirked in a sad way "Meh… I guess they are now? Can't seem to shake them off"

"Where did they come from?" Natsu looked at the girl and bit the inside of his cheek "From a bad place… with bad people who are now dead and deserved everything that happened to them"

He thought his answer would scare them enough to keep the demonic image they held, which is why he was surprised when she smiled at him "You have a tendency for trouble… but also to bring people together, you'll find them" Natsu nodded and turned to Mal and in a matter of seconds they were both gone.

The town people were more than confused; the image that had been painted of the Slayer was of a demonic soulless creature who would not hesitate to kill them, but ever since Lucy had confronted them, their own guilt had started growing… and him sparing them was only a confirmation of what they'd thought of themselves.

It all became that much worse when they had witnessed what happened to the kids and did nothing, they knew someone in their town had reported "The Dragneel kids" and they thought the council would remove them, question them and find them a safe place but knowing that their beloved council would put kids through such things had made them question every ounce of trust they had.

Natsu and Mal got back to the castle in no time, but when they did, Helle was waiting for them in Natsu's room.

"What do you want Helle… not in the mood to pat your head" she looked to her side and bit her lip; he could smell the salty tears starting to form on her eyes but at this point he didn't care.

"Mama knew… she knew… Auntie Ria told her when she came back" Natsu laughed sadly and nodded "Told ya… they can't be trusted"

"Where are they Natsu?" he shook his head and turned away, opened a drawer to get a bottle of whiskey he had there and disappeared into his bathroom. Mal gave her a pained look "They are with the council… they took them away"

"Oh no…" she rubbed her face "Helle… this isn't your fault"

"But it is! I've been helping them and now they are lost! And all because I wanted him back!"

"He is not your brother!" she punched the mattress, more tears coming down her face "I know that! He just… he looks so much like him… I thought…"

"What? That you would get back what you lost? You died, he moved on… what were you expecting?"

"I don't know…" Mal sighed and sat next to her "He mourned you… he cried himself to sleep for so long… but I told him you were watching from above, and that you wouldn't want to see him suffer"

"Well you lied… I wasn't watching, I was waiting… waiting for all of this to be a test and thinking that someday we would be together again"

"I did lie to bring him peace… but I'm not lying now. Helle, what do you think Phrix would tell you now?" she snorted and cleaned her face "To stop being a stupid baby… he would say that crying wouldn't solve a thing"

"And?" she nodded "He would tell me to protect the family… although I don't think he would be referring to mama and aunt… and Aporia" Mal smiled and cleaned the rest of her tears "Now that's my girl" she looked up and smiled at him with a tiny blush before he turned away.

"I got places to be kiddo… see you later and keep an eye on your nephew, would you? He's not feeling too hot" she giggled at his weird attempt of a joke but nodded and in an instant he disappeared.

* * *

Not long after Mal left Lucy to ask for her help, she had made up her mind and walked back to camp followed by her friends; she went directly to the Master who arched his eyebrow at her expression.

"What now child?" she sat down and leaned over "I was attacked again… they know how to find me" Makarov crossed his arms against his chest "Let them come then, we'll protect you"

"I'm staying here and giving you a day before I leave" he frowned but before he could say something, she grabbed his hand "Listen…There's still a chance… we know that now"

"Lucy…" she shook her head and bit her lip before leaning even closer; she started whispering everything that had happened in his ear, with her every word Makarov's eyes widen in surprise "You see? They'll always find me"

"Then we will fight them off!" she shook her head "His spirit asked me for help, I promised that I would, and a Celestial Mage always keeps her promises"

"You expect me to let you stay here by yourself?! Do you take me for a fool?" before Lucy could plead a grumbling voice came from behind "Old man she ain't staying by herself"

"Gajeel?" Makarov sighed "Why am I not surprised"

"Gihi, you know you can't keep any of us away from this" Makarov arched his brow again and tilted his head before Levy poked her tiny self from behind the dragon Slayer.

"We are staying too" Erza took a step forward closely followed by Jellal, she nodded in gratitude and suddenly held his hand making him look to the side to hide the pink tint on his face.

"Well I guess that means I'm staying, there's no way I'm leaving metal breath get all the fun" Gray smirked before Juvia pulled his arm towards her chest "Juvia will follow darling Gray!"

"You brats are going to send me to an early grave… I swear"

"Master please…" he turned to Lucy, her pleading face made his heart clench in pain "Even if I can't help him… at least we can figure out how to make them stop coming after me, I'll only put everyone else at risk"

He held Lucy's hand tightly and nodded "You promise me right now, whether you figure it out or not, you'll come back to us in one piece"

"I promise" She gave him a tight hug and walked away to her tent to try to get some sleep. She closed her eyes feeling a mix of hope and desperation, but it was enough to keep her going.

 _Her dream was neither good of bad, it was… nothing… black pitch and nothing else, she walked in the seemingly endless space rubbing her arms to avoid the devastating cold loneliness that covered everything around her and she wondered if that's what Natsu had felt._

 _The lack of everything made it easier for her to recognize the smallest shift in temperature around her, she looked to every side trying to find the source but wasn't able to locate it, no matter how he changed and how his flames became darker, there was something about his natural warmth that she would recognize anywhere._

 _"Natsu?" The place was so immense that there wasn't even an echo, no walls on which the sound could bounce but she felt the warmth flick a bit when she said his name and Lucy couldn't help her lips from curling "I can't see you… but I'm not giving up on you, do you hear me?!" she felt the warmth become a breeze and curl around her and she felt the need to brush it with her hands._

 _She smiled again, not wanting to let go until suddenly the warm breeze stopped being comfortable, its temperature rising so fast that she felt her face was directly above fire and she pushed herself away "Stop it! Natsu" a torching wind blew passed her and made her tumble onto nothing and she suddenly felt as if the space closed around her leaving her breathless and constraint._

"Lucy!" she opened her eyes to Wendy shaking her shoulders "W-Wendy?" the young Dragon Slayer's eyes were filled with concern when she placed the back of her hand on Lucy's forehead, she grabbed Wendy's hand and pulled it away "I'm ok, I just had a weird dream, that's all"

"Lucy you seem to have a fever" the young mage pouted "I wish I could help you get rid of it like an injury, I'm sorry"

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure is nothing… just go back to bed ok?"

"C-can we stay with you and Happy? I heard you were staying behind… I didn't mean to pry" Lucy smiled, she moved the blue cat to the other side and patted the empty space signaling Wendy to lay down"

Lucy hugged her tightly and started playing with a strand of blue hair "Lucy… do you really think we can get him back?"

"I do" she said with a confident voice "How can you be so sure… last time he was… he…" Lucy squeezed her tighter "I'm sure because love doesn't go away easily" Wendy nodded and cuddled back to Lucy before letting sleep claim her.

She had a hard time going back to sleep, Lucy felt shivers when the night wind blew through the spaces in her tent despite of being well covered and a single tear fell down her cheek… she felt silly; maybe she hadn't felt him at all, maybe her hopeful heart had tricked her into thinking her fever was so much more, into thinking maybe that link they shared was still there…

Little did she know that same night when Mal gave Natsu the album and manuscript he had gone to bed with her name on his lips, wishing for the comfort of her closeness even if he didn't remember the feeling of love anymore.

He had closed his eyes and drifted into his loneliness, walked inside his darkness until he was tired and sat on the inexistent floor waiting to listen for fate's final laughter. This place scared him the most, not because of the emptiness but because he felt that place was him.

Arlo had once imprisoned him in his own mind and it had been a dreadful experience, but now… it was even worse; he sighed and for a second got a hint of vanilla and lavender that made his heart skip a bit, but even with his skillful nose he couldn't follow the scent, he tried… he tried so hard.

The place was so empty that not even the sound of his feet hitting the ground came back to his ears, but he knew the smell was somewhere. Natsu stopped panting and feeling hopeless when he suddenly felt as if the scent wrapped around him and brushed his skin and without noticing his lips curled upward "Lucy…" he took a deep breath and let the freshness of her smell fill his lungs soothing his damaged soul but that didn't last…

He opened his eyes and hissed, Lucy was gone and there was no way he could feel her anymore, their bond had been broken and there was no way to get it back. Natsu was beyond mad, this had to be a trick, a spell or something that came from Aporia's hands to torture him even when he slept; of course! She wanted to drive him crazy with the lack of sleep and the excess of regret.

Natsu let his fire spiral around him burning the nothingness and if there was actually something there, it seemed as if it was a piece of paper slowly being consumed and that only urged him to burn harder and hotter all until his sharp ears heard a faint faraway plea… _"Stop it! Natsu"_ he snapped out of it and turned everywhere without finding the source and suddenly the pain was back…

Was it possible? Had Lucy been there? Had he hurt her again? He felt devastation reaching to his soul once more and crawled into a small ball on the burned inexistent ground until he was able to open his eyes in real life.

He sighed and covered his eyes with his left hand while his right reached for his heart "Something's not right…" what he felt wasn't new, but it was odd… a sense of uncertainty and concern, a push to hide something precious inside a cave and guard it as a ferocious dragon is someone dared to get close.

Natsu jumped out of bed, knowing that sleep was a lost cause. He walked outside of the palace and went to the side where Neri had made her garden and sat down right in the middle before brushing his fingers to one of her creations.

It was similar to a rose bush, filled with sharp thorns but its flowers were a red-orange tone with black taints, just like his fire, even the petals seemed more like flames and he remembered her words when she proudly pulled his hand to show him _"Look! I made this for you" she smiled widely and pulled one out of the bush "Miko said I can't touch your fire, but these remind me of it!" she held the flower close to her face and sneezed before giggling and running away._

He sighed heavily wondering what life would have been for everyone had his brother not brought him back from the dead, how Lucy's life would have been better had she not found him in Hargeon and how everything would have worked for everyone else if he was simply erased from existence… he knew that soon he wouldn't have to worry about that. His fire would burn every single dark guild and him with them, and then Fairy Tail and the rest of the guilds would have a short sweet period of peace.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon, the guild had parted ways with the smaller group and reluctantly said their farewells; while walking away they had made their unique hand signal to let them know they would be expected and waited for.

"Lushy, are you feeling ok?" she smiled at Happy and scratched his ears lovingly "I'll be fine, it's probably just stress you know?" he nodded but she could tell the small cat was worried about her.

"That don't look like a regular fever bunny girl" Gajeel was laying on the ground with his hands behind his head "You should get some rest, we'll keep watch" all of them nodded at her but she hesitated.

"Can't…" Levy gave her a concerning look and she knew questions would come if she didn't beat them to it "Sometimes the dreams are too much…" Erza let her weight fall next to Lucy and without any delicacy she pulled Lucy's head to her lap causing her to yelp; Titania smiled and started brushing Lucy's hair with her fingers just as the blond did with Natsu.

"I'll make sure you rest, and if I see you struggling, I'll wake you up" Lucy smiled and closed her eyes leaning into her friend's touch, she wasn't alone. Exhaustion claiming her almost immediately and thankfully there were no dreams nor nightmares, she simply allowed her brain to shutdown and drifted away.

They had been sitting there for twenty minutes before Gajeel suddenly raised his voice "OI! How long are you planning on hiding over there?!" Levy smacked his arm "She is sleeping stupid!" he rolled his eyes and waited until finally a pouting Wendy came out from a cluster of threes and bushes.

"G-Gajeel!"

"What? You didn't really think I wasn't gonna notice shorty, did you?" she sat down next to Erza still pouting and crossing her arms above her chest "Wendy, why didn't you leave with everyone else?"

"I d-did…"

"Wendy Marvel! They are going to worry about you" Erza gave her an angry glare but immediately softened her face when she saw a few tears starting to form in the slayer's eyes "They won't, I told Azuka to wait a couple of minutes before telling Biska"

Gray sighed and shook his head "This is going to be dangerous Wendy, why did you come back?" she gave him an angry look "I can take care of myself Gray!" he cringed, mentally cursing at teenage years for her attitude "I was worried about Lucy, ok?"

"Seriously child, when are you not worried about someone… you know you can't get rid of that fever even if you tried" Carla sat next to Happy and turned her face away when he was about to tell her something, but the blue cat didn't feel discouraged, he simply moved closer to her and smiled sliding his tail left and right until he was able to curl it around hers making her blush "Silly Tomcat…"

"Carla, I saved you some fish!" she rolled her eyes but stretched her paw without looking at him and simply mumbled "I hoped this time is cooked…" he snickered, reached out for his backpack and gave her a perfectly cooked fish before getting a raw one for himself.

They stayed like that, simply enjoying each other's company, or "standing it" as Gajeel had nicely put it, and when night fell on them Erza placed her hand on Lucy's forehead and frowned "Is not getting better". It was almost as if her voice was heard somewhere, because a couple of minutes later a bright light made an appearance revealing the Dragon Slayer's golden knight.

"What's wrong with her?" as soon as he started walking towards her Loke appeared in the same bright fashion and placed a hand on his chest "Keep your distance barbaric beast…"

"Leo the lion" Mal look straight into his eyes and for a second Loke felt as if fire burnt his hand "I'd recommend for you to keep your hands for yourself if you don't want me to force you back into your realm looking like a kitty"

Loke all but growled but before he was able to respond Erza's dark aura spread around them "Sit down or I'll make both of you go back to wherever you came from" the leader of the zodiac shuddered before giving Mal a nasty look and walking back to his mistress.

"S-she has a bad fever" Wendy's voice was low, but loud enough for Mal to hear; he walked closer ignoring Loke's stares and knelt before Lucy and Erza, his hand stretched close to Lucy's chest.

"That's NOT her forehead" Mal rolled his eyes and turned to Loke "Oh I hadn't noticed!... Idiot… I'm trying to feel her magic, not to cup a feel! I'm not a pervert like you"

"I AM NOT A…"

"Besides, I would never betray Natsu" he placed his hand on Lucy's chest and closed his eyes "Like Natsu is one to talk about treason, this whole mess is because of him!"

"Could you shut up for a minute? I am trying to concentrate!" Erza stared at Loke, he simply clicked his tongue and turned around with his arms across his chest. It took a minute for Mal to reopen his eyes, shock written over his face "This is not a fever"

"What is it?" Mal looked at Gray and then back at Lucy "Where's her stuff?" Juvia walked over to Lucy's backpack and handed it over; he grabbed it and turned it upside down throwing all her things to the floor "Hey! Watch it!" he ignored everyone and searched until he found the red stone.

"Lift her head!" Erza did as she was told to allow him to place the necklace back on her neck and after a minute or two Lucy's breathing seemed steadier. "Do not let her remove it, not until we can figure things out"

"What's wrong with Lucy?" Mal looked at Juvia for a couple of seconds and tried to sound as confident as the first time "As I said, possibly Natsu's magic got tangled with hers when we saved her" he lied… he had thought that as a small possibility when they met the previous day, but now he knew it wasn't true.

"Well if Natsu's magic is the problem, can't we just remove it?" Mal widen his eyes and took a deep breath _-think, think dammit!-_ "We can't, it could destroy her" he didn't necessarily lie, but everyone could tell there was something off about his answer.

Wendy gasped "What do we do!?" Mal looked at the tiny Dragon Slayer and patted her head "It's ok little one, as long as she keeps the necklace it should be ok, it will help channel the fire within"

Lucy stirred and opened her eyes "M-Mal? You found us…" she looked exhausted and he smiled and brushed her hair away from her eyes "I told you I would my lady" she tried to sit up and got immediate help from Erza.

"How is he?" Mal sighed and bit the inside of his lip "He's… upset" Gray snorted and rolled his eyes "That's not surprising, when is he not?"

Lucy held the knight's hand, knowing there was more to be said and for a brief second he squeezed her hand back "It's about those kids… Aporia did leave them in Fairy Tail and apparently they went looking for you" he held her gaze for a second before looking away "There was a lot of blood in the house, dry… he said the trace was cold, probably four days old"

"Do you know where they are?" Erza seemed worried, memories of her childhood pain filled her memory "Yeah… the council sent a henchman after them, I don't know who but Natsu did, apparently he has some history with the guy"

Lucy's heart clenched "Did Natsu said who the man was?" Mal shook his head and sighed "Not by name" he scratched his chin "He said something about him costing the guy an eye, rings any bells?"

"Fuck…" Gajeel rubbed his face with both hands. Lucy held her hand to her mouth for a second and then Mal saw fire in her eyes, the same strong determination he had seen in Natsu not long ago "We need to get them out"

Loke finally turned around "You don't even know where they are Lucy! It's too risky"

"Are we supposed to let them kill those kids then?!" Loke hissed and brushed his hair with one hand "That's not what I'm saying but you are being hunted"

Erza stood up and stood before Loke "We have been hunted before, many times and we've come out victorious because that's what Fairy Tail does best" the queen of the fairies turned to Gajeel "You've worked for them, any hidden place you can think of?"

"A couple, but it would take us too long to check them all out" Gajeel snapped his fingers and turned to the golden knight "Is that fucktard still alive?" Mal looked at him with confusion "The one from the council, didn't you take him back to wherever corner of hell you're at?"

Mal widen his eyes "Radoub! You are a genius!" Gajeel looked pretty pleased with himself until Gray snorted a second time "Or maybe you are just dumber than he is…"

"Watch it popsicle…"

"Anyways! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have to agree with Leo, my lady, you should sit this one out and stay out of trouble"

"No" both Mal and Loke opened their mouths to speak but Lucy cut them off in an instant "I won't sit on the sidelines while innocent people suffer, and if you ask me to do that then you are asking me to deny who I am"

"Indeed… Have no concerns, we will have Lucy's back… worry only about getting that information to us, we'll deal with the rest"

Mal frowned, his eyes showed much more than just concern but he knew that he wouldn't be able to win this argument, not even with a full explanation. He nodded and gave Lucy a deep look "If anything happens... if you are scared, in danger or pain… hold the necklace and call my name and I'll come to you"

"Even if it means leaving your master to fend for himself?" Loke's eye was twitching. He did not like the man in front of him, he could respect him as a higher spirit, but he and his group had caused too much pain to his mistress.

The knight smiled "I've made him a promise that I intent to keep" he smiled and bowed before disappearing into the golden lights.


	35. Chapter 35

**Hiya! Sorry for the absence, work, a cold, and dinner preps for Thanksgiving, then some more work, also working on 3 other fanfics which caused a minor detour on my train of thought! *BOWS* My apologies. So now the tangle mess starts to unfold, I promise not lose ends! so, little by little but of course my prediction on this ending by Ch 40 is bull and will not happen since I let the story write itself I'm not able at this point to determine how long it will take to conclude it until the final point I want to take it to, so, let's see where this adventure takes us.**

 **For the ones that had sent PM about it: I agree, Aporia is a bitch and yes she is based on someone I know**

 **-A**

* * *

 **"People believe, thought Shadow. It's what people do. They believe, and then they do not take responsibility for their beliefs; they conjure things, and do not trust the conjuration. People populate the darkness; with ghosts, with gods, with electrons, with tales. People imagine, and people believe; and it is that rock solid belief, that makes things happen."**  
 **― Neil Gaiman, American Gods**

* * *

Mal frowned, his eyes showed much more than just concern but he knew that he wouldn't be able to win this argument, not even with a full explanation. He nodded and gave Lucy a deep look "If anything happens... if you are scared, in danger or pain… hold the necklace and call my name and I'll come to you"

"Even if it means leaving your master to fend for himself?" Loke's eye was twitching. He did not like the man in front of him, he could respect him as a higher spirit, but him and his group had caused too much pain to his mistress.

The knight smiled "I've made him a promise that I intent to keep" he smiled and bowed before disappearing into the golden light

* * *

Mal reappeared in the castle in no time and knew there were many things to be considered, he absolutely had to find out where the kids were being held but now the situation had become so big that he had no idea what he had to do, because even if you were an immortal celestial being… choices had consequences and he had firsthand experience on that.

On one hand, recovering the kids would sooth Natsu's soul, but in order to do that he had to get to Radoub which was of course being held somewhere by Aporia's magic, that by itself presented an issue; on the other hand, Lucy's condition was far more dangerous than he led on, and he absolutely had to make sure she was safe… the only way to do that was getting her to Natsu which would undoubtedly be a problem since he refused to find her, of course, he could always be honest and tell him that her life was at risk, but what would that piece of information do to his current state?

Now he faced the ultimate question… how would he do it all? Lucy was adamant on helping the kids which would put her in trouble not only because the magic council was out to get her but the fire she contained within would harm her… if things hadn't happen the way they did, if Merryl hadn't almost killed her, maybe they could have had a chance at normal life, but he would never know.

He couldn't stop thinking on how incredibly stubborn they both were, she refused to let go of Natsu and was adamant on saving him even against his will, and he wouldn't budge on doing the same by getting as far away from her as he could. He thought them blind and oblivious to how much harm they caused each other, but then again… he also thought that was partially his fault.

The golden knight walked through the aisle deciding to take a page out of old Natsu's book and figure it out on the run, however, he never made it there. Mal stopped at the image of the man he wanted to protect standing outside of Aporia's library, arms crossed above his chest and frowning while observing the door.

He walked closer deciding to ease the atmosphere by teasing him a bit "That does seem like an interesting door" Natsu rolled his eyes "Ass much?… I'm thinking more in what's behind the door, idiot"

"Ah yes, your grandmother's life obsessions and failures, a sad thing to behold" Mal arched his eyebrow "Why are you interested in those?"

"She hides too much stuff, and not only that but those journals are made with dragon skin, the smell breaks my focus… there's thousands of them" Mal frowned and shrugged "So? We already know she's a soulless murderer, why are you surprised?"

"How come she hasn't run out of it?" Mal shrugged, not really understanding what Natsu was referring to "Of dragon skin, I mean"

"Maybe she killed too many dragons, even I don't know her full story"

"Nope" he shook his head and brushed his hair "Those come from the same dragon"

"How can you be so sure? I mean… I know dragons have been gone for a long time, but there was a time in which there were thousands of them"

Natsu closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the scent of the books that were held inside the very in front of him filled his senses "The smell… I would know that smell anywhere"

"Natsu…"

"Even if it wasn't the same dragon that killed my parents Mal… It would still be the same smell from the one Lucy found" he widened his eyes and cursed himself for forgetting, he had asked his grandmother why the journal had been found in Fukuro's house and hadn't gotten an answer other than it being "complicated", and he decided that it was about time to get some answers for himself.

Of course, when he had taken that deep breath to fill his memories with the image of the dragon, another scent had reached his sensitive nose, and he couldn't help but turn to his ally with a blank and emotionless expression.

"Where did you go Mal?" the knight stiffened and attempted to sound as nonchallant as possible "I was out, nothing important" Natsu's expression changed to disappointment and anger, it was a particular look that meant he knew he was lying and would hold him accountable for it.

"I'll ask one more time, and I'll like to remind you that there was a promise you made to me about full disclosure" Natsu walked closer to him, closed his eyes and took a deep breath and Mal knew… of course Natsu would know, his nose wouldn't lie to him… if he could recognize the smell of a dragon that had been dead for centuries, how could he not smell her on him "I apologize, I didn't want to disturb you… I… wanted to make sure your former comrades were safe"

"You are not to make these decisions without consulting me first, is that clear?" Mal semi nodded but not enough to be considered a full acceptance "Were they safe?" There was no easy answer to that "For now… but I'm afraid that won't last unless we take down the council"

Natsu nodded, turned his back and started walking but only took a couple steps before stopping and without looking back he asked, "H-how is she?"

"Hanging in there… she's… a bit under the weather, but I made sure to keep her safe for now" he nodded again and kept walking towards his room with Mal following close behind him; he knew he would have to come clean eventually, but now was not the time. "Natsu I think we need to retrieve Radoub"

The pink haired Dragon slayer waved his hand "Well I guess is about time he delivers my message to Shiro, honestly I had forgotten about him… I wouldn't be devastated if he died alone in whichever corner of hell he is being held"

"I think he can serve a better purpose" Natsu gave him an incredulous glare "Humor me, what other purpose could we have for that piece of trash?"

"Jeez… I guess we are both dense… Look, we know the council took the kids, but we don't know where… and we know for sure it won't be a place as obvious as Crocus"

"Your point?"

"Radoub may know what that place is, even if he doesn't know for sure he can come up with the best options"

"I highly doubt he will be in a cooperating mood… but I guess that's the best we've got" He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes and that's when Mal noticed the dark circles underneath them "Trouble sleeping?"

"I guess you could call it that"

"Kid, you need to take better care of yourself" Natsu all but snorted "S'fine… at least when I die, I'll be able to rest"

"Wow… you sound like a depressive old man with a terminal disease" Natsu laughed sadly "Well, I am over 400 years old and on my way to imminent death… I've made my peace with the fact that I'm walking the end of the line man, it's ok… I thought coming to terms with one's death would bring peace, it turns out I was wrong"

Mal felt his heart clench at that, knowing that this was somewhat his fault too… he felt so unworthy and for a moment he wondered what his old friends would think of him; Igneel and Phrix would probably be disappointed at how poorly he had managed their departures.

They heard steps coming closer and it didn't take long for a voice to interrupt their conversation "Dinner's ready, Aporia wants to know if you two will be joining us or if you still want to break her neck"

When before, Helle referred to her aunt, the name would roll out of her mouth with sweetness and love, now… it held a coldness that neither man had seen before.

It was curious, the seemingly young girl he met seemed colder now, almost like Juvia when he first met her and Natsu knew that was somewhat his fault, he had forced her to face the fact her beloved family was not better than any dark guild; the love they claimed to have masked the need for endless power and made her easy to manipulate.

She looked up and tilted her head before taking a step forward to fix Mal's shirt "You look nice without your armor, you know?" he gulped and looked the other way "It was necessary at the time"

"Well, maybe you should try it more often" she placed her hand on his chest and smiled and Natsu knew, that was an honest smile to the only person she considered to still be in her corner. He stared at her for a couple of seconds and then broke they weird moment causing Helle to remove her hand quickly "We'll dine together… I have a few things to discuss with them. Inform them that the guild leaders will eat in their own camp and shall not disturb us until tomorrow"

"Of course, my prince…" she bowed and turned on her heel "Hey Helle…" she turned back just enough to see his face "I'm still Natsu for you… don't go all proper on me all the sudden ok?" she blinked a couple of times an felt something warm inside her chest… he looked so much like her brother; the look Natsu gave her was the same Phrix would give her when he stopped being angry at her. She smiled and nodded before leaving to do his bidding.

* * *

It was dark… too dark… darkest than it had ever been for him which was hard to begin with; Calei couldn't feel his arms anymore, the only thing he felt was the liquid still dripping from his head and a throbbing pain accompanied by nausea.

The stench of the place filled his nose and it overwhelmed him… this smell wasn't new for him; the scent of dead was something that despite his young age, he was no stranger to after growing in a guild that dedicated itself to torture and decimate. His hair was sticking to his forehead due to some of the dry blood, but he didn't mind, it wasn't the first time he bled, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last.

He still felt proud, the blood that stained his face had been spilled because he had been brave enough to be there for his family, at his young age he had already accomplished more than what his parents had ever done, he had found people worth fighting for and had overcome his fears and weaknesses.

Calei tried to wiggle his fingers simply to make sure they were there and flinched at the tingling sensation which meant he'd been in that position for some time now; he did his best to pull his arms to test the restrains but they didn't move at all, he couldn't see… of course he had never had good eyes to begin with, but during the last couple of weeks he had learnt to trust his senses just as Natsu told him to.

' _In battle you can't always trust your eyes kiddo, but you have something greater than that to trust… see beyond what people see, breath in their scent, feel the floor vibrate under the weight of their feet'_

Now that was a bit easier said that done when his feet weren't even touching the ground at the moment, but he had learnt that with enough focus, he could see the energy around him and how it flowed connecting everything and everyone and he feared… he feared that if he couldn't sense his adoptive siblings then that mean they were dead. What other reason would there be for him not to see them?

A small whimper brought him back from the dark thoughts and his heart skipped a bit "Adi?" he heard shuffling and the sound of chains, and felt a wave of relieve when he heard Miko's voice "You finally woke up dumbass… we were worried about you"

"I can't see you… I thought…"

"It seems these cuffs cut through our magic… we can't use any of it" it made sense, if the uncomfortable restrains stopped him from using his magic then his senses were no good in this situation.

"I… I'm sorry"

"Cai what are you talking about?" the young brunette felt tears streaming down his face and bit his lip "I had him! I really thought I had him!"

"Hey this is not your fault, he was hunting us down and you did your best, if anyone should apologize is me, I did nothing at all…"

"Well join the club then…" Teiga was still sitting on the floor while brushing Neri's hair with his fingers.

"Why don't you stop feeling sorry for yourselves, uhm?"

"Adi… there's not much else to do here, is there?" she held her broken wrist to her chest, every move she made sent a new wave of pain through her body and caused her to cry again but she knew right now it wasn't the time "Papa would be so mad at you boys…" they stayed silent for a couple of seconds before she continued "What did you think was going to happen? We've been training for less than a month… sure, we could have taken care of ourselves but not against someone like him…"

They knew she was right and Miko felt ashamed that someone as young as her had to put him back in place; the sense of calmness ended when they heard heavy footsteps slowly getting closer. They felt shivers down their spines and coward as close together as they could although it was hard to do with their current restrains.

The incredibly big man that had taken them down was standing across the bars, but what impressed them the most was the smaller figure next to him, his footsteps had been so light that they hadn't even noticed his presence until he was right in front of them.

The elderly man that accompanied Arlo brushed his hand on the door allowing it to open and took a couple steps inside "I thought I said I wanted them in one piece"

"Well they ain't in pieces either, count your blessings Shiro" he sighed and approached the kids "Very well then… I'm so sorry we had to meet this way" he offered them a sympathetic smile while he held his hand close to his heart.

"I am sorry it had to come to this… but I need you to tell me" he stared at every one of them before continuing "Where is Natsu Dragneel?" the kids remained quiet, their heads as tall as they could with the unimaginable pressure they felt from the seemingly nice man.

"Let's not do this the hard way children" Teiga took a step closer and fisted his hands "We don't know… but even if we did…"

"You wouldn't tell me… I see… you do sounds like him a bit, no wonder why he took you in" he sighed again and got closer to the tall six-year-old causing him to flinch "I highly recommend you take the easy way out of this, boy… I am a generous man, but I'm afraid my patience is thin"

Teiga spat on the floor "We ain't giving him to you on a silver platter, even if we could"

"I really wished you had chosen the easy way out of this, I've never been a fan of torturing children" Shiro moved too fast for the naked eye to detect almost like a breeze; he grabbed Teiga by the neck, but only enough to stop him from moving; with surprising delicacy he raised his index finger and placed it on the child's forehead "I'm going to get him one way or the other kid… he broke an important promise and now he will be held accountable for it, so, where…is…he?" silence filled the room and a couple of seconds later the kids heard their friend gasp.

"N-no… stop!"

Teiga had never felt so much pain in his life, it felt like someone pulling his organs through his eyes but he didn't feel any blood dripping, the shock was too big for him to scream, the air kept getting stuck in his lungs and it felt as if his own breath was so heavy that it constricted his very being.

"Where is Natsu Dragneel?" Tears started running to the child's cheeks while he bit his lip so hard that the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.

The kids yelled his name and tried to aid him, but they kept being pushed back by the incredible energy surrounding them and they could do nothing else but watch as a small thin thread of silver light was pulled from their friend's forehead.

Shiro let the kid fall to the ground before licking his index finger. Arlo chuckled before kicking the child closer to the corner, his limp body reaching the wall in no time while he shook in a seizure like way "I thought you didn't enjoy torturing children"

"I don't" he smirked to no one in particular "but I must admit the taste of their souls is the sweetest" they turned on their heels and closed the gate leaving the sobbing children calling for their friend's name; he was breathing but his eyes kept rolling to the back of his head and despite their efforts they couldn't wake him.

* * *

"How are you feeling, princess" Loke sat behind her to rub her shoulders, and she was thankful for it "Tired… but better"

"You no longer have a fever, but you still need to get some rest" she nodded and looked at the stars before sighing "What's on your mind"

"I just want this to be over…" she looked down at her ring finger and stared at the red stone shimmering, almost as if reflecting the skylights "Lucy… you know there's a chance he won't…"

"I don't want to hear it" her tone was definitive, Loke closed his mouth and bit his lip "Whatever it takes Loke, I'm going to see him one more time"

"That's what I'm afraid of… you seemed determined to do it even if it's the last thing you see. Lucy, I don't trust that celestial spirit of his"

"He came to ask for help Loke, and Fairy Tail doesn't turn their back to people in need, you should know that better than most" he huffed and removed his hands from her shoulders before moving close enough to see her face "That's the whole point… he shouldn't need help! He is a war spirit Lucy, made for battle! This is his freaking playground! what on earth could be happening that he can't handle?"

She considered it for a moment and shook her head "I don't know, but he reminds me of Natsu… a bit"

"Well… talking about people made for war" she gave him an unforgiving look and he raised his hands in apology "Come on… you know Natsu, he thrives in battle and goes above and beyond to come out as the victor, he is reckless, selfish and…"

"And sensitive, caring, honest, my best friend, and the love of my life… so, we are helping him" he took a deep breath and nodded "We are helping him" the seriousness was broken by Lucy's growling stomach and she couldn't do much more than blush.

"Wow, hungry aren't we? I've never heard your stomach make those sounds"

"Ha… ha… shut up and get me some food before I chew your head off…" he smiled "I'll get Virgo to put something together for you guys, give me a couple minutes"

"Bring fish! Lots of Fish!" he nodded at the blue exceed and left in a shower of bright lights as he usually did.

"Stupid cat and your stupid obsession with fish"

"You're being mean just because when you eat what you like you get fat Lushy…" Happy snickered behind his paws and flew away with barely enough time to miss her anger "Stupid cat!"

"Damn Bunny girl… not even my stomach growls like that" she rolled her eyes and heard the rest of the party giggling "Happy is annoying enough" she pouted and crossed her arms below her chest "I don't need you being annoying too"

"Aw, come on Lu… he is not that bad" she snorted and waved her hand "Oh shut up Mrs. Redfox, of course you are going to take his side"

"Oh Mrs. Redfox sounds nice…" Gajeel leaned and pulled Levy in before giving her a loud kiss "Really, really nice"

"Can you stop with the PDA? It's kind of gross…" Lucy made a gagging sound causing the rest to laugh again "I have to agree with Lucy on this one, no one wants to see you tackling Levy to the ground, you could crush her"

"Shut it IcePrick before I make you into tiny ice chips" Gray laughed loudly and shook his head "Jeez, your insults are getting lame, maybe that's what happens when you get married, you get soft"

"Juvia thinks once Gray marries her, he will become soft too" he blushed and cleared his throat "When are you planning to make an honest woman out of Juvia?"

"E-Erza I d-don't think that is something we should discuss just yet" she stared at him and he felt his skin tingling under her evil glare "Oh… so you think you can defile her honor before marrying her? Is that what I'm hearing?"

"N-no! I didn't s-say that" the bluenette blushed and held his arm against her chest causing Gray to blush 4 shades redder than before "Juvia will wait for Gray, Juvia doesn't mind Gray def…"

"Dinner is here!"

"Oh thank Mavis…" Gray rubbed his forehead and placed Juvia in between him and Erza, knowing that the great Titania wouldn't try to hurt him with her in the middle.

Loke and Virgo had brought enough food for every one of them and some more. "Princess…" Lucy looked up at her pink haired spirit and smiled "Your magic seems a bit off, are you feeling better?"

"Meh, been better but nothing I can't handle" Virgo blinked with her emotionless face and nodded, she turned to Loke "Big brother, if this is all then I shall take my leave" the leader of the zodiac smiled and tried to place a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder but as soon as he did, sparks zapped them both.

"What the hell was that?"

Virgo scratched her shoulder where she could feel the sparkling feeling "I'm unsure" he scrunched his nose and shook his head "Let's not pull on Lucy's magic anymore, we'll discuss this later"

She nodded and left quickly, and Lucy could immediately feel the pull on her magic receding.

* * *

Natsu and Mal entered the dinning room and walked to their respective places, Natsu at one end on the table with his knight next to him, while Aporia sat on the other end with Nephele at her side; the silence filling the room was enough to choke anyone under the pressure, but no one there reacted to it.

Helle came inside the castle and bowed "The guild leaders have been instructed to not enter the castle until tomorrow morning Natsu" he nodded, and she straightened herself. Her mother smiled at her but instead of responding as she usually would and taking her place next to her, Helle frowned and sat in front of Mal, and to the other side of Natsu.

"To what do we owe the honor of a private family dinner?" Ria entwined her fingers and rested her chin on her hands "What's the occasion?"

"Call it what you wish, we have matters to discuss" Natsu rested his back on the chair, not even caring about the frown Nephele had on her face while noticing the great distance between her and her daughter "I need Radoub"

He could tell that Ria's eye had twitched just a little, but he pretended not to notice "Why?" he laughed and slammed his hand on the table "None of your business, I just need him"

She smiled at him and relaxed her back into the chair, taking a similar position to his "That's not a really nice way of asking for something, dear… you'll get as much as you give, that is the principle of reciprocity" he nodded "Ok, then how about this" he lit his hand on fire and moved it around "Either I get Raboud or I'm burning every single sad book on that library of yours, how about that for reciprocity" she widen her eyes and scrunched her nose, he could tell she was grabbing on to the arms of the chair now but she refused to give in "You are completely missing the meaning of the word, I'm getting nothing out of this"

Natsu smiled at her and sent his fire away "Not enough? Ok then…" He stared into her eyes "Mal… sword"

"Natsu… what…"

"Sword… now" Mal gulped and nodded before summoning his sword and placing it in Natsu's hands "Child, you should know by now your treats to my life have no meaning for me"

"Oh, I know that grams… but you did say you needed to get something, right?" he smiled defiantly and placed the sword against his neck. Nephele threw her chair back, panic filling her eyes which matched Mal and Helle's expression.

"So, I get him, or you can get a table full of blood and your plans going down the drain, what's it gonna be?"

"That would kill Chrysomallos first, are you willing to take his life before taking yours?" Natsu didn't need to answer "I would willingly give my life if Natsu requires it Ria… don't ever forget that" she said nothing.

Natsu pressed the sharp blade next to the scar on his neck causing a thin thread of blood to drip all the way to his shoulder "Tsk… so dramatic, definitely you take after your mother… always backing down from her obligations… Fine… you can have him although I can't see what use you would have for him…" he pulled the sword back and handed it over to his friend "Aw you see, how hard was that?" she rolled her eyes and grabbed a grape from her plate.

She didn't want to give him up, Aporia now cursed herself from deciding to put him in her dimensional space instead of the dungeons but when Natsu had said to put him somewhere where he couldn't hear him or smell his scent, she had thought it was the best choice.

The man now had seen too much and she knew once she brought him out, one of her secrets would be out in the open and she would have no choice but to respond to Natsu's questions, but then again… there was not much he could do with that knowledge and she was confident neither man sitting at the end of the table was bright enough to figure out the one thing she needed to keep to herself.

So, she decided bringing Remy Radoub out wouldn't be as bad… hell, she could even play this to her advantage, after all… as long as she kept playing the angle of "Family that takes revenge together, stay together" she would be ok. Natsu was, after all made for war and she knew his anger and power had no limits, she had to trust that would be enough to get him back to her side.

Dinner went as quiet as expected, Natsu never removed his eyes from Aporia and Nephele, while Mal and Helle glanced at each other in concern, not knowing how things would develop, and soon, dinner was over, and it was time to pay up.

There was still a bitter sweet taste left after Aporia mentioned his mother, for some reason the comment struck him as odd, he had only heard a few words about his mother from Ria's mouth, but they had always been kind… and that made him wonder.

It took a snap of her fingers to materialize Radoub in front of them in between purple clouds, but that man didn't look at all as Natsu remembered him.

His eyes were open to the extreme where they seemed willing to pop out of their sockets at any moment and fixed to nowhere in particular, his hair disheveled and his clothes barely hanging to his skinny frame. He still carried the blood stains on his skin and what was left of his shirt, his hand deformed from the previous injury and fear oozing through his pores… No, this was not the man he remembered… and even more off was the familiar smell he carried around which shook Natsu to his very core.

Aporia noticed recognition flashing in her grandson's eyes, he knew, and she needed to start thinking of a version of the story that would satisfy him.

Mal stood up and grabbed Radoub from below his arms and the man was so out of himself he merely flinched at the contact before staring at Natsu as if he had just noticed his presence, he turned to look at the rest of the people in the table before his eyes met Aporia's cold stare… she was smirking and tilted her head at their prisoner before he shivered.

He threw himself at the Dragon Slayer's feet "Kill me… just do it, please…" the pleading tone made Natsu flinch too; before, Radoub had been an opponent, an enemy, but now he was a no more than a shadow.

"You still have a debt to pay, and I won't let you die before you do…" the man seemed broken and ready to cry, but his eyes were too dry and even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to create a single tear. Natsu stood up quickly and Mal could feel the anxiety rising in his master's chest, he didn't know why but whatever had startled Natsu was enough to make him move and grab their prisoner before pulling him up.

Natsu fisted his hands and started walking outside, and Mal and Helle followed him each grabbing one of Radoub's arms. Soon, they were all standing in front of the small garden that carried the memories of the children they were so desperate to save.

Natsu paced from side to side without turning his eyes to them, mumbling to himself too low for them to know that he was saying; after the longest minutes ever, he stopped; his breathing was faster every time and he had to hold himself for another minute and look up to the night sky before turning to the weakened form of his enemy.

"Why…" he shook his head and closed his eyes "Why do you smell like it?" Remy said nothing, he simply started shaking and scratching his face as if trying to get rid of something on it "I'M ASKING YOU A QUESTION, BASTARD!"

Mal and Helle didn't understand what was happening, the golden knight took a step forward and tried to grab Natsu's arm, but he shook it off and walked straight to Remy to pull him up by his shirt "WHY THE FUCK DO YOU SMELL LIKE THAT SON OF A BITCH, ANSWER ME!?"

"Natsu what in Ares' name are you talking about?"

"He… smells like the books Mal… with one tiny difference" Mal's eyes went wide, he stared at Radoub and he could see fear in his eyes "The skin on those journals smells dead, as it should… but he smells like a full fleshed living dragon, one that I know very well"

"D-dragon…" Radoub's breath hitched "Oh… he… please! Kill me!"

Natsu scrunched his nose and got his face so close to Remy that he could feel the hot breath of the slayer on his face "You don't deserve my mercy…"

"I can't do this, I can't do this" Natsu grabbed his chin and forced him to look directly at him "He's alive? You've seen him?"

The man shook and looked to the ground "I can't…" patience was running low but there was little he could do to convince him, at this point threatening him would do no good since he was begging for his death.

"I promise you that whatever you are scared of… is nothing compared to what I can do to you"

"You don't understand… it… I…"

"So, you have seen it"

"I h-have… if alive is how you would describe him" Remy sniffled and shook his head "He's hanging there, f-from his wings and legs, can't move or do much… most times"

"Then why are you so scared?" Natsu scrunched his nose "Did the big bad dragon scare you?" his tone was teasing, almost cruel… but he didn't expect his pray to look into his eyes before grabbing him and pulling him closer "N-not him! That… witch! She…" there was more fear in his eyes that they'd ever seen.

"Tell me…" Remy bit his lip "S-she goes there every couple of days, she cuts, and pulls and makes him roar in agony and I can't take it anymore" he covered his ears and closed his eyes "The sound… is too horrible, like a thousand bombs going off at once while you hear its victims cry in pain… and when it's all over she is covered in red and licks her fingers" it seemed as if Radoub's eyes went blank from the memories "I-it tries to defend itself and spits some sort of thing from his mouth everywhere… it's been close to tearing me to pieces but it never reaches her"

Natsu was baffled, he felt his stomach tumble just as if he was in a car or a boat and suddenly, he allowed his weight to take him down and sat on the floor. He hated the dragon, he wanted to kill him with his own hands for taking everything away from him, but this… keeping something alive to torture and take from it… although he didn't necessarily feel bad, he did know his old self would be angry, sad, and devastated knowing something like this was happening.

This clarified many things and open another thousand questions, and even more wounds… The Dragon that had so carelessly ripped his mother and father to pieces in front of him, the one who had killed him while he tried to protect his brother… was alive, not only alive but being punished by the one who claimed to be his grandmother, his very own blood was taking piece after piece just as it had done to them… but still, the words of old Natsu kept ringing on his ears and memories filled his mind.

Memories of Shadowgear pinned on a tree, memories of Lucy's bloodied form being kicked by Gajeel, memories of Crime Sorciere's members… and after all, he had chosen not to end them, he had decided they still had lots of good to give… He didn't understand why or how he had become so forgiving, and in this moment, he wished he hadn't made a promise to himself to abide by old Natsu's life rules.

When he didn't snap out of his trance, Mal decided to intervene; he knew this was huge, but they had more important things to take care of "We need to know where the council would take prisoners they want to hide"

"Why would I tell you that?" for a second there, Remy almost sounded like his old self "They took five kids, they are not even above 10 and they are trying to use them to get to Natsu… kids, they are just kids"

"They would never hurt kids… the council I…"

"The council is bullshit! You know better than this, you must!" Remy avoided Mal's stare and turned to Natsu, his eyes were shielded by his messy hair, not one single muscle of his face moved before he spoke "They sent Arlo for them"

Radoub opened his mouth and shook internally "Do you still think they wouldn't hurt kids? He was one of your men, you know what he is capable of"

"You're lying…" the pink haired man stood up and patted his clothes "He tortured a woman from town to get intel on them, then he waited for them to get to my house"

"Lies!" Raboud slammed his good hand on the floor, tears still trying to poor from his dry eyes and it hurt… the burning sensation of the lack of tears and the pressure behind his eyes that couldn't be released was something he hadn't experienced before, because the one thing he had always believed in was the council.

"Their blood was on the floors and the walls and when he had enough that asshole paraded them around… town folks fear the council now, are you sure you are still with the good guys?"

Remy flinched… he had moral standards despite of what his actions made everyone think, sure… he had agreed to go after Natsu because he thought he was the personification of evil, why would he not believe his superiors? They had never lied to him… had they?

His mind was a blur; he could hear all the encouraging words he had received in the council, every attack, every arrest, every medal he had happily stuck in his coat. His mind stopped for a second… and in that one, tiny, single second… he heard everything he had blocked, everything surrounding those words of encouragement; once he removed the positive reinforcement the background noise was screams, men, women, children, prisoners he didn't know if had committed a crime because he hadn't seen them… their pleading sounds claiming to be innocent filled his ears and the last thing he pictured was himself looking down at them with disdain.

How… how could he hold the same believes after being under Aporia's watchful eye for a few weeks? No, his believes had been shaken and he could no longer believe that the man standing in front of him was the enemy… the face of evil was not Natsu Dragneel anymore.

Raboud could see now that the face of evil changed depending in who told the story, and he knew he had been that same face for many people before, people who didn't understand why life had punished them in such a way… but there was one thing he still believed, the truest face of evil in his story, was the tall, black haired woman who had haunted his dreams… and that was the only reality he could afford to grasp with his broken mind.

The broken man sighed to himself and clenched his one good fist "T-there's a handful of places that would work for that… Crocus, one deep underground at the end Phoenix Mountains, the Waas Forest, and the last where the Tower of heaven used to be"

Natsu nodded and got close to Remy, but this time his eyes were blank, no evil nor good… just empty "Don't think for one second this means that you and I are done… but I want to know… why the change of heart?"

"They said you would be the end of life as we know it… he… he said if we didn't take you down the land you would bring chaos, worse than what your brother did" he looked up and Natsu saw doubt, fear and pain, but most of all regret and that was something he knew well "I thought as long as I broke you, things would be ok…"

"And now?"

"Now I know, the only reason why hell would be unleashed would be because of her" Remy sniffled and shook his head "When we fought, I know we pushed you to the limit… I never intended for Merryl to do what she did, I thought we could just take you down and call it a day because I knew you wouldn't allow for her to get hurt… but even when you snapped I could see pain in your eyes, after you changed I didn't see hate, there was just nothing there, but that woman… she has nothing but hate, she is raw evil"

"So, that's why you decided to help?"

"The information is a peace offering… but she needs to be stopped, that woman has no heart" Helle stepped in front of him and stomped her foot on the floor "And you do?! Do you think you are any better?!" Remy flinched and blinked a couple of times without being able to form a coherent thought "Do you think your boss is any better?! UHM?! You've ruined lives!"

"I…" he shook his head "I'm sorry… I didn't…"

"WHAT? You didn't know? How easy it is for you to be oblivious to everything that has happened for the last four hundred years you petty… petty human!"

Natsu grabbed her wrist, not too tight but in a comforting way and she immediately took a step back and bit her lip before turning her back at the victim of her anger "Tell me about the place where you were kept"

It took him a couple of seconds to compose himself after her words, but eventually he managed to gulp the guilt down "It's… empty, as if dark engulf it and it's just… nothing, it changes every now and then"

"Hmh… sounds vaguely familiar, anything that we find interesting there? I mean besides the huge centuries old dragon" Remy closed his eyes for a second trying to remember; when he was there he usually tried to look away from the bloodied angry dragon, and when Aporia was there he tried even harder, so the answer that immediately came to him was a firm no… but there was something on the back of his head that kept bothering him; just when he was about to respond he heard a clicking sound in his mind along with a humming tune.

Natsu recognize the look on his face and knelt before grabbing his shoulders tightly causing Remy to flinch "What?!"

"If I tell you… you need to promise that I won't get back there" Natsu clicked his tongue and shoved him towards the floor "I don't need to promise you shit, you… caused this"

"I followed instructions just as you did! Can you blame me?"

"YES! I can blame you, it takes someone without a conscience to…"

"To protect what one believes in?!" Remy had fire in his eyes again "So, I was wrong in some things, but you are no better than me! You've killed, tortured and sacrificed for your believes… and so have I"

Natsu felt, it had started happening more and more often and it excited and worried him. He felt fire building up in the pit of his stomach and rising though his chest all the way to his throat… almost like a dragon's roar but without real fire… he recognized this feeling, he knew what rage felt like. The sensation of that heat got lodged on his throat and caused him to feel choked, but he knew… it was not only Remy who was causing it, the words he had spoken stroke a cord within him, an ounce of doubt… because in the end he knew the man standing in front of him had a point, not that he would willingly admit it aloud.

He hated him, but at the same time he recognized something of himself in the enemy before him, if this had happened years back, he may have fought the idea because how can someone who fights to do good be anything like someone who tries to destroy it? But present Natsu was not like past Natsu… he was broken, yes… but the brokenness also came with a maturity he didn't have before and reality was that both of them had believed in something so strongly that had committed their life to it and failed.

"Tsk… I can't promise you won't go back, but I can promise to get you out of there… if what you tell me pays off"

"I… can't see what she does… but I hear her" there was something haunting in Remy's eyes, as if the mere memory would keep his eyes from ever closing again "When she finishes with it, she goes around back and does s-something"

"Well I don't have all day… what does she do?" Natsu was starting to lose his patience, and glared angrily at Radoub "I don't know, but I know that it's painful… there's a clicking sound and then she stays there for a bit… humming"

Helle popped her head behind Natsu curiously "What does she hum?" Remy squeezed his eyes and started humming the sweet notes between shaky breaths, and they all recognized the tune in their hearts… suddenly every other sound seemed to freeze and stop on its tracks.

The sound they heard conflicted their hearts… both joy and pain mix together but mostly fear at this point. It was the lullaby, the one Natsu and Zeref sang together as children, the one their mother sang them to sleep, the one Helle had learnt from her mother and aunt to promise her a brighter tomorrow where their family would be together again.

Natsu's heart clenched not only at the memories but at the thought itself; memories of his mother's arms wrapped around him, covering him with the scent of freshly made cookies suddenly overtaken by the image of a blood covered Aporia humming while torturing what could be the last of the dragon kind, and he could only shiver at the thought… that woman was poison, and one way or the other he had to get rid of her.

"We need to find a way to get there…" the water nymph shook her head "Her space is endless, we can't find exactly where it is"

"That's… not necessarily true" everyone looked at the golden knight who seemed deep in thought while rubbing his chin "If we could pin point it's location I could probably get us there, after all going to one of her spaces shouldn't be any different than moving through any of the ones I use; at first I had to find them and mark them as mine, well.. all aside my original one that is"

"What's the big idea?" Natsu walked closer to his friend, he was impatient as usual but there was also a hint of excitement… he had forgotten what it was like to go on an adventure and even though it gave him mixed feelings he knew, this was as close as he could get as feeling like himself.

"How often does she go there?" Remy shrugged "I can't be sure… time is not easy to tell there, if I had to guess I would say every 3 or 4 days but I can't be sure"

"Fine, if you had to guess, when is the last time she was there?" Remy looked up as if trying to analyze and bit the inside of his cheek making his mouth look crooked "Maybe 2 days?"

"Very well… this is how it's going to happen then…"

* * *

"They are talking too long" Aporia tapped her dark purple manicured fingernails on the table while resting her chin in her left fist; Nephele nodded and shrugged "I'm sure Natsu has plenty of anger to release on him, maybe you're overthinking this?"

"Are you that stupid?" the black-haired woman gave her an unforgiving look which made the cloud-nymph flinch "I-I'm sorry Ria, I didn't mean…" Aporia waved her hand and sighed before grabbing her friend's hand "No, no… I'm sorry for snapping, he's just getting on my nerve" she rubbed the skin on the back of her hand in soothing circles "He's too stubborn"

"M-maybe… I mean I was thinking, maybe if we gave him a bit of what he wants Ria… we never even asked him if he wanted to help, this wasn't his battle to begin with; I know Phrixus would have wanted hi…"

Aporia released Nephele's hand harshly "Well he doesn't have the ability to want anymore, does he? He's dead, they killed him, remember? I saw them with my own eyes"

"I know, but…"

"Our children were powerful enough to rule the lands, they had responsibilities and both decided to play house and throw all of it away and look what it got them" she stood up and walked behind the nymph before grabbing her shoulders "This is his battle, it's been foreseen by the stars themselves, it's in his blood whether he wants it or not, do you feel you are entitled to stopping fate?"

"N-no, I didn't say that, but…"

"You couldn't even stop Helle's fate… I did, I brought her back for you, didn't I?" Nephele nodded "I never thought you would turn your back on me Ele, after all I've done for us…"

The nymph turned and grabbed Aporia's hands between hers "I would never! Ria, I owe you everything! I know you gave me my daughter back, you killed that bastard who had sentenced them to death, you tried so hard to save my son! How could I ever turn my back on you?"

Aporia smiled and hugged Nephele's head against her chest before brushing her fingers through the pink-gray strands of hair "I knew I could count on you". The scene would have been sweet if it wasn't for the subject being discussed and the wicked grin on the dark sorceress lips while her friend buried her crying face on her chest.

Still sniffing Ele pulled her face away "Ria, wouldn't it be smart to move your memoirs into your dimensional space? I mean Natsu has already threaten to burn them… I would hate for us to lose so much history"

She chewed the inside of her lip and sighed "I would prefer not, but I guess I have no choice now… do I?" a dragging sounds and steps interrupted their conversation and in a couple of seconds they could see the group of 3 returning with a steaming body being dragged on the floor.

"Well that was some good exercise" Aporia walked closer to him and smiled "I wondered what was taking you so long"

"Just some good ol'fashion fun… since my ability to scare you is close to none, I thought I'd try my luck with this bastard"

Aporia inspected Radoub a bit, he seemed dirtier than before, dirt covered several patches of skin that seemed slightly pink as if it had submitted to heat but not burnt. His deformed hand was now bandaged in a fist along with the left side of his face which caused his eye to be covered; his mouth was relaxed, almost drooling… a clear sign that the man was unconscious.

"Doesn't look like you went too hard on him" Natsu chuckled in such a sadistic way that even Aproria widen her eyes; he put his arm around Helle's shoulders and squeezed "We just discovered we make a pretty good team"

"How come?" She was still staring at him with doubt "I remembered the time I met her, she tried to heal me and help me rest with her water magic" he smiled and nodded "So, I figured we can cause as much damage as we want while we heal him, he'll stay alive for as long as I want him to and he still has OH-SO-MUCH to atone for"

"Very well, are you done with him for now?" Natsu nodded "I may ask for a play date soon… but you can take him back if you want, unless you want us to put him in the dungeons"

"No, that's fine… Chrysomallos, please follow me" the knight turned to Natsu for approval and once he was cleared, he followed Aporia while dragging Radoub all the way to the library "You can leave us here, I'll take care of the rest"

"Don't you want to take me in case you need help?" she smirked "Wouldn't you love that… no, like I said, I am perfectly capable of handling this, now please leave and don't let the door hit you on your way out"

He bowed and stepped away from the room and as soon as the door clicked, he felt the magic release behind the door, he allowed for a couple of seconds to pass before opening it again. The library still had shelves above shelves, the couches and desk… but there were no books left behind, not a single paper laying on the floor, not even a hint of what occupied its space before.

Mal turned away and left while keeping his face as expressionless as he could, which was an ability he had mastered during his time with Aporia. Of course, he could only wish his plan worked as expected, hoping she wouldn't simply kill Raboud to avoid the trouble; he was counting on the fact that Natsu had expressed his desire of taking him out again would stop her from following through with whatever plan she had.

* * *

Loke sat down next to Lucy who was still enjoying from the diverse food Virgo had provided, he was happy to at least see her eat with gust; since this whole thing had started she hadn't taken care of herself as she had to and he was becoming concerned, but in this particular moment it seemed she had put her worries aside.

She was munching on a sandwich that was probably a bit too big for her, and for some reason he found it amusing; he smiled to himself and shook his head "What?"

"You have some mustard on your chin, princess; when did you become such a messy eater?" she blushed and cleaned her face before taking another bite "Aye! Maybe Natsu rubbed off on Lucy!"

"I'm sure he did…"

"Gajeel!" Erza smacked him on the back of the head "I-it's none of our business what they do as a couple"

"OI! You just tried to murder me for defiling Juvia!" the dark aura that emanated from Erza caused Gray to feel small in a matter of seconds "Then you admit it… the impudence of you speaking of such things aloud…"

Jellal grabbed Erza's shoulder gently "They are all consenting adults Erza, why don't we let them be?" she calmed down in a second, as if he had a soothing quality for her.

"Maybe you should rub off on Erza!" Happy thought that was the best idea he had ever had, and he nodded excitedly. The blue-haired man widened his eyes and stared at Happy "W-what?"

"Aye! She seems happier and calmer now! So, if you rub off on her maybe she'll stay like that!" there was silence, deadly, sinister silence… everyone was doing their best not to laugh because they knew anything at that point would trigger Erza, of course that only lasted for a minute before they all exploded, leaving a blushing red-headed mage shaking and speechless.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Lucy patted Happy's head "Nope! You said all the right things buddy" they kept laughing at their friend's expense for a bit when Lucy felt a puncturing pain on her side which caused her to squint her eyes and scrunch her nose.

"Are you ok, Lu?" she waved her hand "I'm fine, just tired" Levy turned to Loke with concerned eyes, but he seemed a bit too surprised, he seemed lost in thought as if he had just noticed something peculiar "Are you sure you are ok, princess?"

"I said I'm fine" she stood up and walked to her tent before closing it and calling it a night "Woah… What's wrong with Lushy now?" Loke scratched Happy's ears and tried to look calm "I'm sure she is just tired"

"Loke… what's wrong?" he looked at Levy and rubbed his face with both hands "I didn't feel it" it didn't make much sense to anyone except for Jellal who immediately look up.

"Has that ever happened before?"

"N-no, I mean not like this…" he could see the confused expression on everyone's face and he inhaled slowly before proceeding "She was… is in pain, and I didn't feel her distress… Levy noticed before I did, that's not normal"

"Indeed, that's out of the ordinary, do you think it has something to do with what Virgo mentioned?"

"Possibly"

"Why don't you go back and ask that weird looking clock? That gaffer seems to know lots of shit"

"Is your brain filled with rusty nails, you metal eating idiot?! I can't leave her, I promised!"

"You left to get food… how's this any different?"

"I left for a couple of minutes, this is not the same… I'm not sure how long it'll take"

Levy noticed his discomfort and smiled at him "Loke, you wouldn't be leaving her, you would be trying to help" he grunted, stood up and turned his back at the group "You don't get it"

"What do we not get? That you feel guilty for not being there for her before?" Gray's voice was filled with anger "Do you think we don't know what that is like Loke?"

"It's not the same!"

"Man, we're family"

"You couldn't possibly know the bond a celestial mage has with her spirits!"

Gray slammed his fist on Loke's face in a matter of seconds "You, selfish prick! We've known Natsu since we were kids and he still didn't feel he could trust us enough to tell us he was hurting… possibly for years! The idiot went and put his neck on the line because he thought he would keep us out of trouble"

"Gray…"

"No! you are going to listen now, we didn't make it in time to save Lucy either and he had to risk his life AGAIN, she wanted our help to go after him right away and we turned our backs on her, why? Because we were a bit shaken after Flame for brains showed us a side of him we didn't know? She still had fate and we didn't, and you feel entitled to tell us WE don't understand what guilt feels like?!"

"I… didn't mean" he sighed "I… apologize"

"Fucking asshole…" Gray offered his hand to Loke, which the spirit gladly took "Now, stop being an ass and go find some useful information, we'll watch over Lucy, ok?" he nodded and smiled at his friend "That was some weak ass punch"

"Well it still threw you on your ass, I wouldn't want to damage that pretty face of yours… how would you pick up chicks after that, uhm?" they both smiled before Loke patted his clothes "Just… keep her safe, ok?"

"We will guard her with our lives" Erza placed her hand above her chest and he felt calm washing over him; for some reason there was nothing more reassuring than a promise from Titania to protect their family against any harm. Maybe it was the brutality he'd known her capable of, possibly her raw strength, but above all… her heart would always force her to keep going despite all odds, she would always protect the ones she loved.

For a second he pictured Natsu instead of the red-headed mage, grinning at him and telling him everything would be ok, letting him know no harm would come to them, and he knew… the guild may had been disowned but the spirit of Fairy Tail still lived on every single one of its members, and as long as there was one beating heart among them, the flame of Fairy Tail would burn strong.

Loke left in hopes we would find the answers behind the messy energy.

* * *

Natsu laid awake in bed, staring at the cold, dark rock ceiling; he didn't know why but his instincts told him something wasn't right, there was a void in the pit of his stomach and he couldn't stop himself from sighing.

There had been many battles in the past in which his flight or fight instinct had kicked in, although for him it was an obvious answer to always fight because no matter how scared you were, things weren't over until there was only one person standing, usually, this filled him with energy and the adrenaline rushing through his body made him keep going… so, why? Why was the sense of anxiety as overwhelming now to a point where he felt like ripping his skin apart?

The acclaimed new demon king felt itchy in the back of his head, just as when that horrible contraption had been placed there by the council, just as when he was trying to contain himself around _her_ and that feeling only went away when he declared himself a loser against his instincts and surrendered to her warmth and the softness of her skin… when her scent filled his nose and her hair brushed against his face.

He knew she probably hated him now, for lying, for leaving, for killing… for so many reasons that he couldn't keep track of them anymore, but she would never hate him a much as he hated himself for all the times he'd failed in keeping them safe.

All that he had wanted before was a life with her, hadn't they said it was all more fun when they were together? Hadn't they promised to stay like that forever? Right… he failed with that too, he took the fun away along with all the promises and buried those together with the dreams he had of building a life with her, to build a in a house in a land worthy of his father, the same land he had bought so when the time came for Igneel to come back he could be proud of him… another dream, another gravestone.

Natsu felt warm liquid dripping from his mouth and noticed he had been biting down so hard that he had punctured his lip, but when he reached out to clean it with the back of his hand, what surprised him the most was not the blood but the salty liquid dripping from his face… he was crying.

He wondered how a soulless person, if he could even call himself that, could cry, and then it hit him… the sadness and pain that he was experiencing did not belong to a soulless monster but to him, the one and only Natsu Dragneel and for once he felt a bit at ease, his soul was still there, somewhere… trying to make its way back to him and he would cling to it no matter what, because that was the only thing that kept him human, the only thing that still belonged to Lucy.

It came as quickly as a wave; the pain he felt caused him to roll on his side and bring his knees closer to his chest, it was acute, as a puncture wound but there was nothing physically there. He grabbed on to his side and hissed and in a second Mal was there with a worried look on his face.

"Are you ok?! What happened?"

"I don't know… ARGH…. Fuck make it stop!" Mal reached out and rolled Natsu on his back to inspect him but there was nothing there. The golden knight places his hands above his master's side and closed his eyes.

Gold and red energy emanated from his hands; Natsu's temperature had always been higher than average but he felt warmer than usual and the celestial spirit couldn't help but frown, this was happening too quickly… he had thought there would be more time before Natsu noticed something was not right and he could only hope this could be contained until he could find a solution for this problem.

Mal placed a hand on Natsu's forehead, his temperature was rising to the point where the blankets were starting to smoke, and he didn't know what to do. He pulled Natsu up and led him to the bathroom, he threw him inside the bathtub and turned the cold water on.

Natsu hissed at the contact with the freezing liquid, but what concerned Mal the most was the water evaporating quickly under the contact with his master's skin.

He disappeared in a rush and came back with Helle following close behind "Oh God! Natsu!" she all but jumped inside the tub and wrapped herself around her nephew; her skin immediately felt the burning pain but thanks to her healing capabilities she would be ok as long as she could endure the pain.

"Chrys this isn't working!" tears started pouring down her face "We need to cool him off, what happened to him?"

"Too many things… for once he is now knowingly fighting to keep his soul in place" she pulled one of her hands away from Natsu and grabbed Mal's hand "And?..."

He sighed and shook his head knowing Natsu could possibly hear them despite the pain which they knew he did as soon as he groaned "And?... you know something… Mal… ARGH" another wave on pain caused him to stir again.

"Helle, knock him out"

"But…"

"Just do it!" she nodded and placed her hands on Natsu's forehead, her energy seeping though her fingers and filling the tub with a blue hue resembling crystals. It wouldn't fix a thing, nor would it take the pain away but after a few minutes Natsu was out.

Mal stood up and rubbed his forehead "He's going to get pissed…" she blinked a couple of times before he disappeared into a flash of lights while Helle tried to cool Natsu off without much luck, even with the constant stream of liquid, the water would heat up as soon as it touched his skin.

* * *

Natsu was back into that dark place in his mind, he felt the sweat dripping from his body and tried to control his breathing to no avail. He didn't even know he could get uncomfortable under heath, not to this extend at least.

He tried to get himself up and walk around the nothingness trying to calm down, but he felt as if his brain was burning off, all the sudden he felt a cold hand on his forehead and sighed. Natsu tried to open his eyes to come back to the real world, everything was blurry, but he saw the shape of a man, pale skin and dark hair framing his face before he closed his eyes again only to fall back into the pitch-black emptiness, but he wasn't alone.

" _Natsu"_

" _Zeref?"_

" _Shh, you need to be quiet, mama said so"_

 _Everything was still dark, but his brain was filling in spaces with objects and he noticed he was crouching while being held by a younger version of his brother; he looked at his own hands and they were so small, childish and covered with dirt._

" _What are we doing?"_

" _Duh… mama said we should hide, so be quiet or there won't be any cookies for you"_

 _He then noticed they were crouching next to a window that was not closed all the way and he heard whispering outside. Natsu recognized the voice and his heart ached at the nostalgia it caused; he felt a sharp pain on the left side of his head and flinched, the voices outside were almost muffled by something but he couldn't figure out what it was._

" _Will you turn your back on me child?"_

" _I did a long time ago, I will not be a part of anything related to you and you will stay away from my family"_

" _I AM your family, this… whatever it is you are doing here was fun while it lasted but it is time to come home Nizza"_

" _You're not welcome here, that place is not my home and if I ever see you close to my family, I'll make it my personal mission to bring you down"_

" _That's no way to talk to your mother"_

" _Mother? When have you ever been such a thing?"_

" _Do not force my arm Nizza, you are no match for me" Natsu heard the sound of steps before he heard another familiar voice "Well, she ain't alone now, is she? Who the hell are you and what do you want with my wife?"_

" _Ah, but if it isn't the former prince of Boeotia… fancy meeting you here" everything went silence for a couple of seconds before the woman chuckled "Don't look so surprised child, do you think I wouldn't know what my daughter's been up to?"_

" _Ah… so it's you, heard some stuff, not interested in getting to know you, so if you be so kind to leave our property before we make you leave…"_

" _Aw… so aggressive, like father like son. Nizza you come with me now or I will make you regret your choices up to this point"_

" _She will do no such thing"_

" _Then I guess your fates are sealed… yours and the ones of those adorable, precious children"_

All the sudden the objects started disintegrating, the wall and window becoming nothing but sand falling from a glass clock; Natsu tightened his grip on his brother only to feel him disintegrating, no matter how much he tried to keep him there a couple of seconds later everything was gone.

He was still sweating but felt incredibly cold, so much that his lip started trembling and his skin felt like being burnt by ice. He slowly opened his eyes to the same image from before but everything was so blurry and he couldn't focus, the shape of the pale man with dark hair was still staring at him.

"Z…Zeref, w-what…"

"Dammit, he is fucking hallucinating"

"Well if you hadn't taken so long to compose yourself after I brought you here…"

"Asshole, I was sleeping when you took me and brought me through a fucking celestial portal thing and dropped me on my ass! I felt as if my brain was going to come out from my nose!" Natsu's eyes tried to focus on one image and landed on the black marks covering the man's right side all the way from his hand to his face. The voice was one he knew, he tried to move and found himself restrained, no, locked in a frozen bathtub. "Gray?"

"Welcome to the land of the living ashbreath"


	36. Chapter 36

**Greetings everyone! Here's the latest chapter, not much to add for now, work has been crazy and I'm trying to keep up with the writing of this one and 3 other AU stories that are turning very interesting but are yet to be published until I** **accumulate** **a couple more chapters. Today I am leaving two quotes since I couldn't decide which suited this chapter more.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"For weeks Tyrone thought he was going to die any minute, and there were also times when he was afraid he wasn't going to die."**

 **― Hubert Selby Jr., Requiem for a dream**

 **"I did the only thing I knew how to do: I built my own walls of silence to disguise my desperation and what later came to be recognized and diagnosed as depression."**

 **― Sharon E. Rainey, Making a pearl from the gift of life**

* * *

 ** _(AN: To keep everyone on track with the constant switching: The end of the previous chapter)_**

 _He was still sweating but felt incredibly cold, so much that his lip started trembling and his skin felt like being burnt by ice. He slowly opened his eyes to the same image from before, but everything was so blurry and he couldn't focus, the shape of the pale man with dark hair was still staring at him._

 _"Z…Zeref, w-what…"_

 _"Dammit, he is fucking hallucinating"_

 _"Well if you hadn't taken so long to compose yourself after I brought you here…"_

 _"Asshole, I was sleeping when you took me and brought me through a fucking celestial portal thing and dropped me on my ass! I felt as if my brain was going to come out from my nose!" Natsu's eyes tried to focus on one image and landed on the black marks covering the man's right side all the way from his hand to his face. The voice was one he knew, he tried to move and found himself restrained, no, locked in a frozen bathtub. "Gray?"_

 _"Welcome to the land of the living ashbreath"_

* * *

 ** _(AN: Again, to keep track, this is the scene leading to the opening of this chapter, in case you need a reminder)_**

 _"Very well, are you done with him for now?" Natsu nodded "I may ask for a play date soon… but you can take him back if you want, unless you want us to put him in the dungeons"_

 _"No, that's fine… Chrysomallos, please follow me" the knight turned to Natsu for approval and once he was cleared, he followed Aporia while dragging Radoub all the way to the library "You can leave us here, I'll take care of the rest"_

 _"Don't you want to take me in case you need help?" she smirked "Wouldn't you love that… no, like I said, I am perfectly capable of handling this, now please leave and don't let the door hit you on your way out"_

 _He bowed and stepped away from the room and as soon as the door clicked, he felt the magic release behind the door, he allowed for a couple of seconds to pass before opening it again. The library still had shelves above shelves, the couches and desk… but there were no books left behind, not a single paper laying on the floor, not even a hint of what occupied its space before._

 _Mal turned away and left while keeping his face as expressionless as he could, which was an ability he had mastered during his time with Aporia. Of course, he could only wish his plan worked as expected, hoping she wouldn't simply kill Raboud to avoid the trouble; he was counting on the fact that Natsu had expressed his desire of taking him out again would stop her from following through with whatever plan she had._

* * *

The door clicked leaving Aporia standing in the middle of her library; she looked at Radoub's unconscious form, clicked her tongue and huffed; it was annoying for her to have to submit to yet someone else's tantrums. She placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes before taking a deep breath, it had to be done.

The man was no more than a rabid dog, a loyal servant to a nasty man she could consider her equal in many ways, but still an adversary; If it was up to her, she would make her purple clouds filter through his lackey's lungs claiming every bit of oxygen left and crushing everything inside him… poisoning his body until he withered, but she knew it was not the time; she was already walking on thin ice with her grandson and killing his new entertainment wouldn't help, she needed this to work.

She extended her hands with her palms facing up and closed her eyes; the air around her moved making her long dark hair fall out of place and flow while she allowed her magic to swirl out of her thin, delicate fingers; Aporia felt a strange tingling feeling as her magic seeped from her and expanded and she flinched… this hadn't happened before.

Trying to disregard the uncomfortable sensation, she pushed through; her purple clouds wrapped themselves around Remy lifting him delicately but causing her to flinch again, she could almost feel his weight under her fingers and her concern started growing but she couldn't stop, not now…

The clouds grew past the limp man until they filled the dark stone floors swirling in shapes all the way to the book shelves then slowly reaching the stairs on her right side covering the wooden boards little by little until her reading nook on the upper level was completely covered.

Once she felt she had covered every corner, her magic contracted and she felt it syncing with her, this was different than before… the magic pulsed like a heartbeat and kept contracting which each 'boom' of her own heart in an almost painful way, pulling everything until she had disappeared, leaving behind nothing but fading smoke.

the dark haired woman reappeared again in her dimensional space, all her books landing in a mess on the floor and Radoub next to her. Aporia's hair swirled around along with her magic, her long dark blue skirt moving as if the wind was against her until her magic settled and disappeared, leaving her panting, shaking, and shocked, something was not right.

Her hands immediately tried to settle her disheveled hair back in place, it seemed untamed now which was weird for her, so many years of ethereal perfection have gotten her used to not putting much effort into things. _'Why?'_ Her eyes looked everywhere and nowhere trying to think of a reason why her magic would betray her in such an important time of her life, she had kept all her rituals, all her conditions… everything in order to keep feeding the energy.

A sad and tired laughter that would have made an echo if such thing was possible in the vast nothingness of her personal vault made her look up with disdain at the majestic creature, she'd held prisoner for centuries.

Aporia hated the thing, it had been a amazing thing to behold back in the old days, but now it was nothing but a ghost from her past life. No matter how much she hurt it, it wouldn't bow… centuries of torture, cutting, pulling, breaking hadn't changed that fact.

"Sorceress…" The huge creature whispered through broken and bloodied teeth; his scales were a dark brown, almost black colored; many of them had been ripped and healed leaving scars as if he'd been burnt by something stronger than fire; there were dried bloodied gashes on his skin, covering most of his belly, even some of his claws which dragons were proud of had been cracked centuries ago and looked dry and pathetic; his wings were spread and anchored to nonexistent walls and had holes that would never seal and would prevent it from flying even if he ever found a way to get out of the retched place.

Aporia straightened herself up and grabbed the unconscious man, struggling to drag him all the way to his shackles "Oh, manual work for a change… tired, are we?" he laughed again, but she ignored him. The black-haired woman restrained Radoub and proceeded to pick some of her books to make several stashes.

"It seems your infinite magic is not infinite anymore sorceress… have your powers forsaken you?"

She turned and stomp her foot on the nonexistent ground while tightening her fists in a sad childish display of anger "Shut up beast! Before I take away something that you'll miss!" that made him laugh again "Bitch! What else can you take away from me? The only thing I have left is a heartbeat and I am sure you're not willing to take that away just yet"

Aporia hated the sight of his smiling broken mouth; as he laughed the gaps from his missing teeth made a whistling sound she had learnt to hate. It was rare for him to laugh anymore and she was more used to his painful screams.

She was not going to let him get under her skin… she walked away towards darkness, so far that she couldn't see the majestic beast anymore, but she knew… this path would only take care where she wanted to go if her master wanted to see her; so, she walked for what felt like hours although she knew time wasn't relevant in a place like that.

Every step she took made her heart clench and her body shiver; could it be that her master had abandoned her? No, he couldn't… he needed her, and she needed him, and that tiny thought made her heart warm up a bit.

A picture of his face came to her mind, she had always admired his handsome features, the soft lines of his face, his sharp chin and his porcelain skin and most of all his desire for power.

Ria figured her internal cries for help were heard when she saw the scenery change; the floor she stepped on changed to the darkest stone that ever existed; as she kept walking, the floor became wider and wider, not only showing the step she had taken but an aisle that became broader bit by bit until she reached a pit filled with dark swirling fire.

The room was lighted by torches made with huge old bones, she'd been there before and knew those came from old creatures whose blood lines had been eliminated too long ago after rising against the master of the realm she had dared to step into.

"I hope you have a good excuse to call for me, my dear" the fire casted shadows on the man's pale face, his sharp chin was tilted up as if looking at the ceiling while his arms were crossed above his chest "I'm a very busy individual, you know?"

"My lord…" she knelt and bowed respectfully; he waved his hand and signaled her to sit on the chair across the table, leaving his red and black chess board in the middle. The dark haired woman placed her hand on her chest and bowed "My magic is acting strangely, and I find myself in need of your wisdom"

"Trying to appeal to my ego, my precious Ria?" he smiled at her and licked his lips "It's not acting strangely, just running out, my dear" She felt a hole in the pit of her stomach and placed her hands on it instinctively "Please, I've come to ask for your help once more, my lord"

"I'm disappointed…" she looked nervously at her hands "Did I not give you the power to defeat your enemies centuries ago?"

"You did…"

"Did I not keep feeding you with my own energy to help you take revenge?"

"You did…"

"Did I not ask for only one… single… thing… in exchange?" she flinched, of course she knew what he was talking about, but in her heart everything she'd done had a purpose and she could only hope he knew that "One that you carelessly threw away when blinded by your stupid human ego?"

"My lord! She would have been useless for your purpose! She refused her destiny and I punished her for it… but I brought you something better!"

The somber man stared at her for a second "You brought me an empty shell! Something I could not use to gain terrain against my siblings, something equally blinded by its own hunger!… and then I gave you another chance, did… I… not?" she nodded "And what did you do with it?"

"I…" Hades slammed his hand on the table, causing the chess pieces to fall "You allowed him to grow power hungry and lead himself to death!"

"I d-didn't know Zeref would be killed!" he stood up and walked behind her before placing his cold sharp fingers on her shoulders "But he was… and that leaves us in our current predicament. The only one who can increase my armies of destruction now is the younger sibling" he pressed his fingers against her skin in a bruising way "The one who inherited my nephews bloodline and righteousness… they were two sides of the same coin, one with the power of death, one with the power to set everything ablaze… one with no destiny foreseen, which we could have easily molded… and one with a prophesied destiny tying him to the one energy that could put a bump in our plans"

"I'm truly sorry for my failures… but if you would just listen" the cold, dark laughter that came from him made her shiver "I have no wish to listen to your stupidity anymore… Ria. You should be thankful that at least the fake bloodline of the puppet you created served the purpose of tainting him enough to allow the dark fire to filter during Chrysomallos' stupid act of honor and chivalry… bloodlines are a tricky thing, aren't they?"

"I… can fix this, I'll be the vessel of your wish once more and together we can…"

"I've always enjoyed the use of the word 'we'" Hades walked and sat back down, crossing one leg above the other before snapping his fingers; a crystal-clear glass appeared on his hand; he took a sip of the dark, thick liquid before placing his glass down on the table.

Aporia took a calming breath, she felt relieved knowing the plans were not broken but when she looked up and saw Hades' mocking face, her blood ran cold.

"It gives an imaginary sense of purpose to useless people…" her smile faltered "I'm afraid this changes nothing, you failed and now feel you are worthy enough to come and ask for my help?"

"My lord… I beg of you!" he leaned on the table and wrapped his hand around her neck, his stare reminding her of the one Natsu had given her "You think begging will persuade me? After taking my graces and wasting them? You lied to me… a God, and thought I would never figure it out"

"How did you... I didn't mean to lie to you, I thought my actions would serve better to our plans"

"Stupid mortal... I can reach whatever place you can, I own every bit of your energy. One thing you should remember, my dear… is that we may not see everything all the time, but living for eons allows us too eventually catch up with what we've missed, and we do not forget. The magic I gave you will run its course and you shall receive nothing more from me unless you bound yourself to his power by the next full moon" he pushed her away, his eyes glowing between black and golden "Leave…" Aporia's nails were digging to the skin on her palms but she nodded and stood up before walking away the same way she'd come.

The dark fire in the pit flickered, he smiled at it before getting closer and brushing his fingers over it "It's alright" the fire swirled around his hand, almost holding it "Once he finishes my bidding he'll be right next to you" the fire became darker and flickered with sudden strength, it couldn't really burn him but he still retrieved his hand "Settle down… you hissing at me will not change my plans, it will be done"

He sensed a presence he knew well and rolled his dark eyes "I need to set some barriers to keep your kind from entering here whenever you feel like it, you are becoming annoying"

"Who were you talking to now, uncle?" The red headed man stepped closer to inspect the fire but stayed back as soon as he saw the ruler of the underworld tense; he crossed his muscled arms above his perfectly sculpted chest which was covered by a red and gold armor, similar to the one Mal wore.

"Oh… I thought I'd never hear you refer to me as that ever again… you must need something from me" Ares' lip curled upwards, he walked closer and saw the chess pieces laying on the floor and arched his brow "Did you lose a game and got mad?"

"I, dear nephew… never lose a game…" the red headed man smirked "Well, there's always a first time…" he clapped his hands "Anyway, there's business to attend, places to see, people to talk to, so, if you wouldn't mind…" he signaled the throne like chair on the other end, signaling Hades to sit.

The God of death walked and patted his dark tunic as if trying to get rid of nonexistent dirt before taking a sit and looking at his nephew "I need you to back down, the boy is hurting too much, and this war has been taken too far… the Gods know and will definitely summon all of us to take sides and mark the beginning of the end for another era when this war reaches all realms"

Hades gave him a quizzical look "The God of war, wanting to avoid one… this would be funny if it wasn't too pathetic"

"Oh Hades…" the read headed man rested his back on the chair before entwining his fingers and placing his hands on the bone colored table "Have you ever known me from backing down from a war?" it hit him then… his nephew knew something he didn't, something that was making him feel as confident as to walk in the underworld to shove it in his face "I just thought you'd like another opportunity to avoid the inevitable end of this game"

"And why would I do that… Ares?" the man smiled at him and shrugged, unwilling to provide any information relevant for the keeper of the abyss "I don't know… I see mortals trying to bargain their way out of death's grip all the time… I thought maybe you would do the same"

"I cannot die, boy"

"Is that what you think?" Hades threw the rest of the chess board along with his glass on the floor "That's what I know!"

"Very well… then I shall take my leave and bid you farewell uncle, one never knows when the last time we'll see each other be…" Darkness engulfed the place making the torches lose their brightness, the only one remaining being the fire pit in the middle of the room and in a second, he disappeared in black smoke and appeared in front of the God of War "Do not taunt me, I AM death"

"And I am war… and you can't win a war against war itself" Hades laughed manically and moved passed his nephew "Silly child… It's going to be a joyful moment to bring you to your knees when you figure out you're wrong"

Ares sighed and shook his head "And it will be a sad moment for me to witness the fall of the powerful Gods…"

"Stubborn all the way until the end I see… you will think you are right until your final moment"

"I don't think I'm right, I know I am" Ares' power swirled around him and became a powerful flame that covered him entirely, flickering with strength; he nodded towards Hades in respect before the flame disappeared, and him with it.

* * *

Lucy laid alone in her tent, trying to hold her breath; every time the wave of pain overcame her, a small whimper would try to escape her lips but she would keep them down if it prevented her friends from growing even more concerned.

The pain on her side was increasing rapidly and moving up to her chest almost constricting her lungs; it was a weird feeling… not exactly as freezing cold but as if loosing her own body temperature, as if life itself tried to abandon her body leaving nothing but heartache and unhappiness, as if all the good things in the world would escape if she let that little bit of warmth leave her skin.

She knew something was very wrong, but until recently, she hadn't realized how wrong it was, and now she felt very stupid for not knowing.

The celestial mage had been powering through everything she'd been feeling because their goal was too important for her… you don't get a sick day when you are trying to piece your life together and save the love of your life from himself… but once Mal's energy had connected with hers while he tried to figure what was wrong with her, the truth was not only revealed to him… but to her as well, and it made sense for her now.

When his energy linked to her, reality had struck her as a bucket of cold water… She hadn't said anything, her friends would only freak out if they knew she was at risk and she couldn't take that at the moment; them being concerned about her well being would only remove their focus from the goal, but in that very moment… fear for the amount of things that could go wrong made her feel as if she was sinking in quicksand and she knew if she lost this battle she would lose herself and no amount of support would ever allow her to recover her broken soul.

The celestial mage wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to bring some comfort just like he did when she had a bad day, but knowing her life force was linked to everything she wanted, everything she loved with all her soul made the anxiety in the pit of her stomach accumulate more and more, making her pain almost unbearable; she feared Loke would be called because of her stress but the celestial spirit never made an appearance, she didn't know if to be sad and relieved.

She fisted her hands and bit her lip trying to hold the tears that were sure to come, her mind wishing he was next to her and hold her to take the pain away, to make her feel safe as he always used to do because she knew wherever she was… if she took a leap, no matter where she was falling from he would always catch her… at least that's what it used to be.

Awareness was a hard thing to fight, knowing right now he was so far away that is she jumped from a cliff he wouldn't be near to safe her, knowing that maybe the darkness that tried to rip him away would dull his love, his senses… it was almost too much to bear.

"Natsu… I jumped… why are you not here to catch me?" it was only a second later when she felt her pain subside and a calming warmth filled her body, for others it may have been too hot but for her it was just soothing… spending so many years partnering up with someone whose temperature was always above average made her feel comfortable and allowed her to cuddle in her sleeping mat and bask in the calmness this provided her with. She smiled, she wanted to think this was his warmth, whatever was left of his soul reaching out to her; Lucy desperately tried to believe this meant he hadn't abandoned her completely, and she would until proven otherwise, because in her mind, there was no greater love than this.

Lucy tried to reach out to him, to fill him with the same intense love she felt for him; every time she tried, she felt a wall stopping her advances; a painful, fearful wall pushing her back with strange tenderness… she tried harder and felt the warmth receding a bit, which she didn't want; so, instead of pushing back she simply focused her energy on filling every corner of her mind.

A gold, sparkly energy flow covered her porcelain skin from the tip of her toes to the last golden hair on the top of her head, she sensed her energy was different now and for some reason it made her smile. Once her whole body was covered by the bright energy, she saw a couple red strikes swirling around, dancing with her golden light as if it was a choreographed motion and she felt herself unable to remove her eyes from it.

Her concentration was broken by a sudden thud followed by Gray's groggy voice "The fuck do you think you are doing?" then silence…

Lucy sat up and got out of her tent feeling rejuvenated, until the fearful voice of one of her friends made her realize something had happened.

"Gray!" she stepped out of her tent so quickly than she almost tripped a couple of times, the sound of her feet hitting the ground and making the lose pebbles crack under her speed; she ran to the other tend and pulled the fabric at the entrance away, only to see Juvia tossing the sleeping mats away and patting the floor, as if for some reason he was still there, but she was not able to see it.

"What happened?!" Juvia was frantic, her eyes wouldn't set in one single spot, her hands were shaking and the sky above them was becoming darker and darker by the minute. It didn't take long for the rest of the party to join "H-he is gone, he's gone… he was here one moment and then gone the other!"

"Juvia, calm down! You are going to flood camp!" she started rocking back and forward, her panicked cries stinging everyone's ears and Lucy did the only thing she could think of. She knelt in front of her friend, hugged her and allowed her to rest her forehead on her shoulder while she cried.

"L-Lucy… he's gone… why, why is he gone?" The blond woman brushed her fingers through her friend's hair, pushing her energy just as she'd done before but with less strength. The golden glow seeping on Juvia's skin, making her sigh and relax little by little; she was still sobbing, but the imminent rain had been contained. Her friends looked at her with baffled expressions, but she just shrugged signaling them it was nothing.

"Where's Gajeel?" The celestial mage was trying to keep herself calm in an attempt to keep her friend at ease; Levy shook her head "He and Lily left an hour ago" Erza rubbed her forehead and huffed in exasperation "Why would they leave given our current situation?"

"He's got a couple of old contacts from back in the day that he's been trying to track to get some info from, he said their meeting places changed every so often and he thought he knew where to find them tonight… they should be back by morning"

"Well they should have said something! It would have been helpful to have him use his heighten senses here" Erza rubbed her chin, trying to consider all possibilities "Maybe it was Mest?" Jellal placed his hand on her shoulder "Don't you think he would have said something?"

"Not if it was an emergency, maybe the master needed Gray, if they were attacked…"

"If they were attacked, he would have taken you as well" Lucy sighed "We can't be sure… Happy, can you try finding them and check? Try not to raise any alarms just tell them we are ok and wanted to check up on them, see if Gray is around"

"Aye!" Happy pushed his fist up on the air "I'll come back in no time!" Carla hissed at him and crossed her arms above her chest "Silly tomcat… I'll go with him, he'll probably arrive screaming that Gray has been eaten by bears!"

"Carla… be safe, ok?" Wendy hugged her friend and rubber her cheek against her fury face "Of course I will child, you have nothing to worry about"

The exceeds flew away into the night, knowing that they would have to take some breaks from flying since their friends had moved probably further away than what they expected. Of course this meant Lucy and the rest would not be able to move until the exceeds came back with answers, which also presented a problem, but they could only hope the flight wasn't too long.

"We need to be on guard in case someone attacks" Erza nodded, she knew Jellal had a valid concern, after all they were being hunted by the council and have had several encounters with their minions attempting to take Lucy away "I shall be on guard for the first four hours"

"Sure" Levy took Wendy's hand and pulled her to her tent while Erza went to her own and Jellal walked the perimeter.

Juvia kept sobbing on Lucy's shoulder until the blond woman pull her down to the sleeping math "It's ok, I'm here" she kept rubbing soothing circles on her back and whispering comforting words to her ear.

After a long moment of silence, the water mage was able to put her words in order "H-how did you do this?", the question had startled Lucy which made her stop the circling motion of her hand "What?"

"Stay strong…" Juvia pushed her face to Lucy's chest and sighed "I… didn't, I broke over and over but you guys were always there for me" this caused the blue haired mage to push away a little bit "But still! He's been gone for less than 10 minutes and I can't… I…"

Lucy felt a stab in her heart, she knew the concern and fear that came with not knowing what was happening with the people you loved the most "What if the council got him Lucy? How are we going to get him back?!"

"I…" she panicked, how in Mavis' name were they going to manage to sneak him out of the council? Of course they had him, whom else would have been able to remove him without anyone noticing? But if that was true then why was she not taken? And then it stroke her… they'd tried to take her several times without success and they knew Fairy Tail was all about family and friendship… the best way to pull a Fairy out of hiding was to take something precious away from them and wait for them to retrieve it "We'll get him back Juvia, I promise you that…"

Their friends had already risked too much for Natsu and her and they had paid them back with pain over and over; they were risking their lives, they were removed from the official guild list because of the decisions she and her mate had made and she knew it was up to them to bring this to an end and to make sure no one else got hurt.

The celestial mage was scared, probably more scared now than ever because now she knew what she was risking on all ends; not finding Natsu would mean the end for her, which in all honesty she had been ok with not too long ago, not being with him was the hardest thing she ever had to do, and she wasn't willing to do it again, but now things were different… now she had other things to worry about which gave her a damn good reason to find him… on the other hand, her friends were suffering and it was their fault, she couldn't deny the responsibility she had to save them and bring them together.

She closed her eyes for a bit, still comforting Juvia and she knew what she had to do…

* * *

Natsu was blinking rapidly trying to get his eyes to focus, he was sure he was hallucinating now because there was no way the hand on his forehead was Gray's. His body was in pain, and he closed his eyes telling himself he was still somewhere in his mind and once he woke up it would all go back to normal.

"Time to wake up asshole" the dragon slayer frowned before opening his eyes, he looked to his side, Helle was still holding him but she was shivering, her lips were a bit blue from the temperature drop, he then focused his eyes on Mal and felt anger rising through his body causing his temperature to rise again making a bit of the ice melt around him.

"You…" Mal stiffened "Natsu, look… let me…"

"You, fucking traitor…"

"Was I supposed to let you die?!"

"YES! If the question is between letting me die and bringing outsiders here, then yes!"

"Outsiders?" Gray looked at Mal and shook his head "Maybe then everything would simply get fixed by itself! Ria's plans would be crushed, the guild would stop being in danger!"

Gray flicked his forehead "You're an idiot… We are never going to stop being in danger until we fix this, and you dying will fix nothing" Natsu turned to Gray and the look in his eyes made the ice mage shiver, his dark eyes seemed more menacing with the golden halo around them.

Natsu's breathing became ragged, his temperature kept rising but now at his own accord and as the ice kept melting he was able to push himself up from the tub, he pretended it didn't hurt, and that he was fine and stretched his muscles before cranking his neck.

"Please, just listen…"

He walked out of the bathtub and without warning he punched Mal hard enough that he was slammed against the bathroom wall before he grabbed Gray by the neck and threw him outside of the bathroom causing him to land on the floor.

The Ice make mage was taken back surprise and took him a good 5 seconds just from the shock to actually compose himself and look up at his best friend, they had grown up fighting but this was different than that… he felt the imminent thread as if he was being surrounded by enemies while Natsu walked towards him with a dark angry aura surrounding him.

"You should have stayed away Gray" Mal stood up and dashed as fast as he could but was stopped by a flare of fire "This ain't your business anymore, none of what I do is"

"Natsu…"

"I told you to not make any stupid decisions before consulting me! And what do you do? You bring Gray?"

"We were worried about your safety!" Mal's plead was interrupted as Natsu roared fiercely and released his magic causing for his wings and scales to come out shimmering in dark red, soon his horns followed while his roar keep making the walls shake under his power. Gray felt fear while looking at his friend, and his only reaction was to pull himself closer to the wall while observing the bloodied looking shimmer swirl around Natsu and take over him completely.

His eyes drifted all over the pinkette, taking in the change, his eyes were now almost completely gold with black strikes here and there, he seemed taller and almost threatening like a predator and now he felt smaller… defenseless… he hated the feeling but was unable to do anything. Gray's back was now against the wall.

"Natsu! Calm down!" Mal tried to get closer but as soon as he was at arms reach Natsu grabbed him by the neck and slammed him on the floor without releasing him "YOU…" his claws were digging into Mal's skin causing blood to trickle down to his chest "Wait! Natsu just listen!"

"LISTEN?! YOU BROUGHT HIM HERE AND YOU WANT ME TO LISTEN?!" Helle rushed towards them but was pushed back in a second and she winced before pulling herself up to get closer and knelt in front of Natsu "We thought you were in danger! You need to understand"

Natsu was still growling, his sharp white fangs showing in a display of anger that they had not seen before, not even when he had threatened Aporia and in that moment Gray was able to find his voice again "Be grateful there's still people willing to save your life, by the way you are treating them I wouldn't have been surprised if they had let you die" Helle shook his head "No, no, he is not usually like this! He's just mad"

"Don't justify him… he needs to see what he's doing" Natsu snarled before releasing Mal; he stood up and looked down at his former guild mate.

"I should kill you for coming here, I warned you people to stay away" the ice mage gulped, warn them he had… and they hadn't listened but the words he had spoken to Loke resonated in his head.

 _"Man, we're family"_

 _"You couldn't possibly know the bond a celestial mage has with her spirits!"_

 _Gray slammed his fist on Loke's face in a matter of seconds "You, selfish prick! We've known Natsu since we were kids and he still didn't feel he could trust us enough to tell us he was hurting… possibly for years! The idiot went and put his neck on the line because he thought he would keep us out of trouble"_

 _"Gray…"_

 _"No! you are going to listen now, we didn't make it in time to save Lucy either and he had to risk his life AGAIN, she wanted our help to go after him right away and we turned our backs on her, why? Because we were a bit shaken after Flame for brains showed us a side of him we didn't know? She still had faith and we didn't, and you feel entitled to tell us WE don't understand what guilt feels like?!"_

He knew now what he had to do, he had taken a step back then, but was unwilling to do it again; his friend was hurting… he knew, deep inside that anger and hate, there was nothing but pain and sorrow… so, he took a deep breath and looked Natsu in the eye knowing this was a huge leap of faith, he knew that there had always been one constant in their relationship… they bonded better over arguments, fists and brawls "Ok then, do it" Natsu's eye twitched "I will!"

"Ok then! Get to it, we don't have all day" Natsu gritted his teeth before Gray stood up on shaky legs and stood right in front of his face "Come on, kill me… you warned us, and I'm here and I'm betting you won't have the balls to do it" Mal knelt on the floor "Do you idiot have a death wish!?"

"Nah… I just seriously doubt he can actually pull something like that off, he's been such a failure"

"Shut the fuck up, Gray!"

"Am I lying?" Natsu scrunched his nose showing his white fangs "You only know how to win by putting your neck on the line, it's almost as if you want someone to just… off you"

"You dare to mock me?!" Natsu took a step towards him, flames still swirling around his feet and increasing the room temperature until the stone seemed as if it'd melt "The man you knew is dead, there's nothing of him here… you are nothing to me"

"Sure I am, I'm the prick who kept saving your ass every time you went and did something stupid, you failed and you know it" Natsu was snarling at him, his temperature now so high that Gray could feel it blistering his skin "You failed Igneel, and Lucy, and Gramps and the guild, I'm sure even your death threats will be a disappointment"

"AND WHERE WERE YOU?" Gray's eyes widen "WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE WHEN S… FUCK…." The ice mage saw it… the recognition, the pain, the resentment… all of it flowing on those amber eyes.

"When? When she almost died because you were to weak to save her? Your idiot decisions are what took you there"

He pushed Gray harshly against the wall "That's right… it was my decision just as finishing you off is…"

"Then prove it, 'Oh almighty demon God'… you still talk too much you know?"

"You will burst into flames by my mere touch! There's going to be nothing more than ashes when I'm done with you" Gray nodded "I understand, it'll hurt like a motherfucker" Natsu grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall and the black haired man felt as his throat constricted and the air escaped his lungs but he didn't remove his eyes from Natsu's.

He really hoped he was right, deep inside he wished for his friend to snap out of it and realize what he was doing, but Natsu's eyes didn't hesitate and he started feeling this may have been a bad plan, he tried to use the oxygen he had left in his lungs "W-when you're done… ugh… don't send me back to Juvia…"

Natsu scrunched his nose "Oh, shall we spare her from the pain of losing what she loves most?" Gray shook his head "Let her know… but don't let her see what you did, don't let any of them see it"

"And why should I do that?" in the midst of all the fear and pain, Gray managed to curl his lip up and stretch his hand enough to brush over the place where Natsu's guild mark was "They shouldn't hate you… one day they'll get you back"

The pinkette's fist rose, Gray saw it getting close to his face as in slow motion and closed his eyes to brace himself for the impact, but instead he felt his hair move and a crash on the wall that hurt his ear. He opened his eyes and turned… Natsu's fist had broken the stone wall and he was looking down while still holding Gray, but not with as much strength as before.

He heard him sniffle before he turned on his heel suddenly avoiding his eyes "Take him back…" Gray could still feel his heart pounding, but deep inside he was relieved… Natsu was still somewhere there; Mal sighed, he placed his hand on his neck and hissed at the pain his injury caused "Natsu… please"

"No… he needs to go back to them, we don't need him here, and I don't want him here" Gray walked and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and noticed his temperature was still off "You can lie to yourself all you want, but if you didn't want me here you would have killed me"

"I don't want you here, you need to go back to your family" The dark haired male shook his head and tightened his grip on Natsu's shoulder "Our family… man, you didn't fail, ok? I… we failed you, all of us"

"Shut up" Natsu tried to pull himself away but Gray wouldn't budge "No, this is not your fault… not entirely, you did what you always do, which is stupid by the way… but if you always have to put yourself on the line to make sure everyone is safe then the rest of us are doing something wrong"

"Let go frostbite…"

"Asshole…"

"Icedick…"

"Flamefart…"

"Frosty Stripper…" they suddenly stopped for a couple of seconds and Gray started laughing "Are you done behaving all dark and weird now? Are you going to tell me what's happening?" Natsu closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he felt a sharp pain on his chest.

His hand instinctively went to his heart and clenched to what was left of his shirt before his knees buckled; Gray caught him mid fall "Woah, watch it…" he started walking Natsu to his bed to help him sit and at this point, Natsu was to tired to fight him.

"Well this reminds me of that time where you took Cana's drinking challenge and I had to carry your ass home" Natsu snorted "Shut your piehole" once he was sitting on his bed he sighed "Well Mal I hope you are happy, you've doomed us all…"

"Stop being dramatic, we'll be fine…" he shook his head "Nope… I've seen Juvia find Gray in a fucking different continent, and believe me that woman does NOT give up easily"

"Oh, come on…" Gray stared at the golden knight "No, no… he is right, Juvia will be here, wherever here is… in a matter of days, I don't know how she does it"

"You need to take him back, now" The dark-haired man flicked Natsu's forehead "You're burning up, idiot… can't leave just yet" Natsu sighed and bumped the back of his head against the wall before turning to see Helle, she was still shivering, rubbing her arms to keep warm, and he felt a bit of remorse for pushing her away.

He signaled with his head "Come here dumb ass…" he lifted the covers and she smiled and cuddled next to him while he placed his arm around her. She felt at home here next to him, and his warmth reminded her to her brother much more than before, whatever had happened had helped him regained a bit of what he had missed, and she was excited.

Gray wasn't sure if to be surprised or upset… "This is what you've been doing while your mate is almost making herself sick out of worry?!" Natsu blinked a couple of times "What the hell are you talking about?"

"She barely eats and sleeps and here you are in your fucking palace with fucking servants and a hottie in your bed? Are you kidding me?" Mal frowned at hearing him referred to Helle in that way "Watch it…"

"No, no, please explain to me what the hell is going on in that empty head of yours?!" Natsu frowned, "What's wrong with Lucy?" Gray pointed at him and then Helle "What's wrong with you?!" he looked at his current position and then back at Gray and a light bulb when on in his head "EWW! You perverted popsicle!"

"I am perverted!? At least I'm only with one woman!" Helle couldn't help but laugh at the face both of them were making and cuddled closer to Natsu just to see them scrunch their face even more and Natsu immediately pushed her away "Fuck Gray! She is my aunt! Why would I ever… EWW DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"

"WELL BECAUSE… wait, what?..." Helle giggled "Nice to make your acquaintance, I'm Helle, the water spirit of Hellespond and also the twin sister of Phrixus… Natsu's father"

"Oi… this just went from weird to weirder" Natsu rubbed his face and sighed "You have no clue, my definition of weird has dramatically changed" he then turned to Mal and gave him a knowing look "You said she was fine" Mal crossed his arms above his chest and looked at the ceiling "I said she was a bit under the weather…" Gray snorted "Under the weather?"

Mal turned to slightly shake his head to ask Gray to keep things quiet but by the time he did, the black haired mage was not looking at him anymore "Her weird connection with you has caused her to be directly haunted by the council and they would have taken her if Pyro number 2 hadn't gotten there in time" Natsu's eyes widen "Yeah and she gave us a good scare but this guy showed up again and helped a bit… she hasn't been well"

"What's wrong with her?" Gray shook his head "We don't know man, but it's disturbing her magic… Loke left for the Spirit realm to ask Crux about it" Mal cursed himself; Crux wouldn't know everything, but he would have enough information to make assumptions, but at this point… the damage was done.

He didn't need to turn to know Natsu was burning a hole through his head; he sighed and cleared his throat "She's not well… and she won't be unless we bring her here…" The last thing the pinkette wanted to do was bring her further into this mess, and he grunted his refusal to make his point clear "She'll be fine, you said so yourself"

"I… didn't exactly say that... I said, "for now" and that was not really an accurate time frame… she needs to be here, the sooner the better"

"Why?"

"It's complicated" Natsu snarled at him and both Gray and Helle winced "Then uncomplicated!"

"There were… things that I couldn't have known when we saved her, and now your magic is embedded in her but it is not enough to sustain her… and maybe it wouldn't have mattered if" he hesitated for a moment "If you had actually lost your soul because she would have absorbed more magic or you wouldn't have cared if she died"

"So, I was right… I didn't lose it… this is my fault" Mal flinched, got closer to the bed and sat down "That… is also complicated, you both did and didn't…."

"How can things get even more complicated Mal?"

"Would you have rather she died?" Natsu grunted and slammed his head against the wall again "We need to bring her here… she will need to absorb more of you magic for some time before she is out of the woods"

"If she's here, she's doomed, and you know it" Gray punched his arm slightly "Well… it sounds like she is doomed either way Flamebrain…"

Helle huffed and stood up before she started pacing the room "Aporia will know she is here the moment that… girl… comes through the doors" Gray glared at her angrily "That girl's name is Lucy and queen bitch doesn't know I'm here, otherwise she would have burst through the doors already"

"The only reason she hasn't is because she is not back yet… she hasn't noticed"

The golden knight had a bad feeling about this whole thing, but at this point his chances were slim, there was no way around the situation as it was.

"We'll find a way to deal with Ria and Elle… it's our only choice if we want to keep both Lucy and Natsu alive" he noticed them staring at him and he clenched his fists "This is draining both of you, you are too far away and your mate bond didn't break completely because your soul wasn't fully severed from your body, when she is about to lose the battle she reaches out and even if you don't know… your soul responds to it and the same will happen with you"

"If she's draining him, wouldn't it be better to keep her away?" Mal shook his head and gave Helle a concerned look, he could feel she didn't want her around and he'll have to make sure to clear some things for her in order to change that "Mate bonds are destine bound and undeniable… when one dies the other follows, and it's the same the other way around, think about it… if you tie two bricks together and throw one in the ocean… what happens?"

"The other one goes down too, so what?" he smiled and nodded "What if you hang on to the first one and pull it up?" she blinked a couple of times until realization hit her "You think once they are together they would feed of each other so much that they'll heal"

"I do, but we need to make sure Natsu's is a bit steadier before going back there"

Natsu bit his lip and closed his eyes tightly, he couldn't believe this was happening… he wasn't ready to see her, and he didn't know if he ever would… sure, his soul was still calling her, still craving for her light and warmth… but what if he didn't feel the same as before? What would that do to Lucy? What would happen if he had become so rotten, if darkness had embedded so deep inside that he was just not capable of loving her anymore?

His mind was too fast for him to grasp anything anymore and then he looked at Helle and Gray's words slammed into his brain like a train.

 _"Be grateful there's still people willing to save your life, by the way you are treating them I wouldn't have been surprised if they had let you die" Helle shook his head "No, no, he is not usually like this! He's just mad"_

 _"Don't justify him… he needs to see what he's doing"_

What was worse? he knew Lucy better than anyone and if she thought there was a small chance that he felt something for her even if it wasn't as big as before, she wouldn't let him go, she would stay with him despite of him loosing his temper, and becoming cold at times and she would justify him, just like Helle had done; she would stand by him and suck it up because it wasn't bad all the time and that would be enough for her, she would stay with him until his inevitable end… but if he felt nothing she would be devastated… but free to move on as long as it provided some sense of happiness to him, she would still justify him saying that his soul had been taken and he was not to blame but she wouldn't be stuck with him and his problems.

"Gray… I… need you to promise something" Gray arched his eyebrow "What?"

"We will get her here… but she can't know my soul isn't gone, she can't know that it's still trying to reach her… for all purposes I need you to forget everything you heard here today"

"Are you an idiot?!" he looked at him then, and what Gray saw in his eyes was just Natsu… not a demon, not a crazy person that had surrender to power, not a cold-hearted person… just a man who was experiencing pain and confusion and it got to him…

He had thought him dense, ignorant and impulsive and for many years he had been wrong, his best friend, his almost brother was suffering and had been for too long and had never felt like he could trust him… but today he was, and he was asking something of him.

"She deserves something else, and I ain't it… There's much to explain and it'll come in due time but this will not have a happy ending for me, and I can't let her sink with me" Mal sighed "Natsu… but the bond will do the same, we need to…"

"We need to figure out how to break it before the blood bond ceremony, once it's done she will be safe and I'll proceed with our original plan"

"We don't know if it'll be enough time for her to survive, she needs to absorb your energy and if she doesn't…"

"Then figure that part too… she needs to live, and needs to be away from me as soon as possible"

* * *

Teiga slowly opened his eyes, he felt as if his head had been split in half… his body was still shivering and he was sobbing uncontrollably while Neri brushed his brown hair with her fingers just as he had done for her before "I was so worried about you" her green eyes were filled with tears and he felt some of them fall on his face.

"I'm sorry Nene, are you ok?" she smiled a bit "We should be asking you that" he was able to sit up with a bit of help and noticed the rest of his friends surrounding him "How long was I out?"

Miko was facing the gates and didn't turn to them before replying "Hard to tell time… but enough for us to think you weren't coming back… maybe half a day?" Teiga sensed the gloom atmosphere "Well… I guess now we know that we're coming back from it…"

"We need to find a way out of here…"

"Miko… this place looks solid" The place had no windows at all and it smelled like humidity, they had no way of telling where they were, nor the time of the day and their chains were not as long as to inspect the whole room.

"I know… but we need to try… how long do you think they'll keep us alive for? We need to warn him… we need to look for him and tell him what's happening" his train of thought was interrupted by a faraway noise; they didn't recognize it at first but as it got closer, they could tell it was the slight stomping sound of footsteps.

Every step made them flinch and crouch back and before they knew it Arlo was leaning on the gate, he was wearing black pants and shirt along with some military boots making him get lost in the darkness of the room but his smug face, disheveled dark hair and closed eye were all they needed to recognize him; "Oi, the tall one is awake now…" Miko stood protectively in front of his friends causing the man to laugh "That's cute… you think that you can actually protect them?" he opened the gate and walked inside.

"Leave them alone!"

"Such a fearless leader, sad that you are too weak, uh kid? You fell like a tiny piece of paper back at your daddy's place" the ten-year-old snarled and pulled his chains "Shut up!"

"I think… you can't be broken by pain… just like him… and I won't make the same mistake twice" he grabbed Adi by her broken wrist and pulled on her chain until it broke before pulling her to the other side of the room.

"LET HER GO!" they couldn't see a thing anymore, it was too dark and too far. They heard a click a couple of times and then flinched at the sudden light and they saw it.

Adi was laying on a stone table, her remaining chain was bound to the bottom of the floor and there were two torches, one on the wall by her head and one on the opposite side; there were tears falling from her eyes but she was biting her lip to avoid making sounds before closing her eyes and thinking about her makeshift family.

 _"Look kiddo… being brave is not about not being afraid but about dealing with that fear, there are many different types of fear and some are easier to handle than others. Whenever you feel scared you need to remember you are not alone, your unit is there, and they are your family, right?" she nodded and smiled at him, not really understanding the words but accepting them since it came from him "Yes papa"  
_

 _"They will give you strength, because doing something to make sure your family is safe is the best motivation, you hear?"_

She opened her eyes and looked at them, she couldn't hear them anymore and although she didn't know why, it didn't matter. Adi saw them moving their mouths and pulling themselves as if they were screaming and the only thing she could do was smile at them "It's ok… we're all ok" they froze and kept opening their mouths but it was useless.

Arlo had taken away her hearing temporarily and was annoyed when it didn't immediately freaked her out; he grabbed the chain that held her broken wrist and pulled down harshly noticing how she winced but still no sound came from her mouth, her eyes were still fixated on her friends.

"Adi! Look at me, Adi!" Miko was pulling so hard on his restraints that his wrists were bruised and bleeding "Leave her alone!" Arlo pulled a small knife from his pocket and opened the blade "We better start small, she is so tiny she'll probably bleed out if I use the regular ones" he smiled at the kids before placing the tip of the knife against her upper arm.

"STOP"

"Where is Dragneel?" Neri sobbed "We don't know! Please, please let her go!" Arlo shook his head and poked Adi's arm, not too much, just enough to break the skin and sink the tip a bit but it still caused her to wince again.

"When will he strike?" the kids shook their heads while tears trickled down their sad faces; Arlo huffed in annoyance "You are going to bring more pain for you, but that's all right by me" he focused his magic on the girl before him and almost saw it swirl and cover her skin.

Adi noticed the moment things changed, before she could feel the cold stone on her back but now it was almost so cold that she felt it burning, every time she winced of shuffled, pain would quickly cross through her body as if a sheet of sandpaper was being rubbed against her, removing her skin little by little. Arlo started poking her skin just like the first time, except this was an almost mechanical move making a straight line of dots on her arm and once he was finished we would go down and start a new one.

She couldn't take it anymore and she screamed so hard that she felt her lungs were about to explode, she kicked her legs up and pulled her arms which due to her broken wrist caused even more pain to course through her, almost as if her hand was being ripped away.

"Where is he?!" he kept looking at the kids, their screams were starting to annoy them and he directed his magic at them and increased their hearing 'let's see how they like that' to his surprise, they did look in pain but wouldn't stop calling her name, telling her that she would be ok, yelling at him to let her go.

Arlo kept stabbing her arm growing frustrated at their lack of cooperation "Look! No amount of pleading will get you out of this! Shit… I hate dealing with fucking children!" he rubbed his face "Either you tell me now or the next one to come will be Shiro and you will fucking regret it!"

"WE DON'T KNOW!" Cai screamed so hard that his throat felt like burning, even with his feet off the ground he had tried to push them towards the wall to pull himself from it, he was sure his hands were bruised by now, but he didn't feel his arms anymore "We were taken there and then taken back! HOW would we know?!"

Arlo slammed his fist on Adi's stomach pushing all the air out of her lungs "That ain't good enough" he pulled the chain from her injured arm from below the table and held her wrist before getting a bigger knife from his belt.

It was a 7.5" silver tactical hunting knife with a shiny edge and onix tangle, its blade was curved and sharp and the light of the fire bounced off it, sending its reflection towards the opposite wall. He placed the edge below the nine dotted lines he had made on the child's arm, about an inch or two above her elbow.

"How do we find him?" the kids sobbed and shook their heads, knowing there was nothing they could do. Arlo started drawing a perfect straight line around her arm and circled the whole thing while she screamed her lungs out; once he was done, he cleaned the knife on his pants and placed it back on his belt.

They saw the monster in front of them pull the chains and drag the girl back to their side and when Miko tried to punch him he was kicked in the stomach and thrown on his back before he attached the chains back where they belonged.

"This ain't the end of this… you will speak or die in silence" he let himself out and left them there, consoling each other and trying to sooth the tiny four-year-old while cleaning her scarred arm with their own clothes.

* * *

Lucy made sure Juvia was asleep before making her way to her own tent, she opened her back and removed her current clothes to change and after trying a couple of things that she was now surprisingly not as comfortable in, she settled for halter top, the lower potion was white and lose since it descended from below her chest while the upper portion was red with a gold trim that wrapped around her neck, a white skirt with a red belt around her hips and her black knee length boots.

She took a deep breath, her hands were shaking and for once she wondered if it was worth it, not because of him, she knew he was… but because of all that she would be risking not only herself but his sanity too… if that was something that was still there at least.

It had to be done… they could die either way, together or apart, hell… he could be the cause of her death or she could be the cause of his, but she would still rather for them to be together, no matter what.

What she saw inside her mind when Chrysomallos had connected their energies was frightening; her body would become selfish and seek to draw life from his energy and no matter how Natsu was now, either he felt something or not… deep inside he was the most selfless person she knew, even if his mind didn't know it… his body would.

Natsu would, even unknowingly or unwillingly give the energy for what her body needed to thrive and the distance between them would make it more straining for him… she would have chosen his life over hers in a heartbeat but things were different now. It was sad… he was broken in so many ways and it could all be tracked to her. Lucy's mind drifted while arranging her bag and hey keys to the beginning of it all.

The day he had been angry at her for wanting to visit Fukuro she had known something was off with him, she had known for weeks something was bothering him and had seen the darkness in his eyes increasing little by little but she had disregarded it… she had played it as nothing more than a tantrum instead of pushing him to talk to her.

Would things had turn out different if she had sat him down and force him to tell her about his nightmares? Maybe… maybe if she had pushed enough, they would have gotten a solution before facing the problem and things wouldn't have gone as bad as they were now, but now there was no sense in dwelling on it…

They were in the middle of this mess, one that only they could fix and it needed to happen before things were at the point of no return, so, she readied herself and left her tent quietly, looking everywhere to avoid being spotted by whomever was keeping guard.

Lucy walked in the stealthiest way possible for some time, leaving the dry soil from the harsh mountains behind until she approached the tree line and then walked even further.

She stopped at a clearance surrounded by tall trees and flowers which were now, due to the season regaining their green colored leaves. The celestial mage sat on one of the trees and rested her back waiting… she knew it would happen eventually, it always did. If the council was trying to separate them with a bargaining chip in the shape of her friend, then she would act as such with one single wish in mind… that if she fell, he would be there to catch her… and if he wasn't then she would surrender them to their destiny.

It wasn't a weak choice as many may have thought, now more than ever she wanted to protect her life but she knew if things weren't fixed, her life would be lost either way, and she would not let her friends go through the same thing she and Natsu did, they would lose no one, she would make sure of it, and when the time came she wished he would show up as he always did.

Lucy smiled at her thoughts… she was the planner, the one that needed schedules and strategy while Natsu was more of a "Let's burst the doors and see what happens" and now she was doing exactly as he would do… well, at least what he would have done before.

She didn't realize how much time she had spent there, but there was a certain chill that made her bring her legs closer to her chest to keep warm until she heard a twig break on her right.

"Took you long enough…" there were a few minutes of silence before the steps became clearer and she saw the tips of the swords shinning with the moonlight "Well here I was expecting to find a surprised young woman… but it seems I'm the surprised one, finding a resigned woman"

"Psh… you guys are not too smart, are you?" the guy grunted at her response "It's hardly a surprise when you are nonstop harassing my friends"

The council knight stepped closer, followed by other five knights and two mages who quickly settled barriers around them much like the ones she had seen during their first encounters, one that prevented her from calling her magic spirits.

"Take your time, I'll not fight but I have a couple conditions"

"What makes you think you are in any position to negotiate Miss Heartfilia?" she smirked and stood up patting her skirt which caused the rest to point their swords at her.

"You've attacked us more than a couple of times in the past… how did that work? Sure, you have your runes… I'm wondering how much they'll hold, I mean… that worked fine for you the last couple of times, right?" he hissed at her and placed the edge of the sword on her neck "Don't play me for a fool, wench"

She rolled her eyes "Jeez… take a moment here; we can do this the hard way or the easy way and believe me at this point I'd rather you guys took the second choice"

The knight holding the sword didn't hesitate but narrowed his eyes in suspicion "And what is it that you want?"

"I'll leave with you, but you'll promise to leave my friends alone from now on… you have me, so you don't need them… I'll also require for the council to return Gray in one piece"

"Gray?" the men looked at each other "Fullbuster… you know? Ice mage, yay high, dark hair, droopy eyes, a stripping complex and a mean look in his face?" the soldiers from the back stared at each other whispering but the one at the front nodded and smirked "We will release whichever member of Fairy Tail is currently in our possession, shall we go?"

Lucy removed her red gem necklace and the ring Natsu had left for her, she slipped the ring in the chain to keep them together before pulling off the ribbon which held her half ponytail up and wrapped it around both objects making a tiny bow.

"What do you think you are doing?" she turned and hung the necklace in a low branch from the tree that she'd been resting prior to the knights' arrival.

"They'll know I left willingly… they'll find it" The knight grabbed her arm and pulled it behind her back "You are too far from camp, they won't… what are you trying to pull here?"

"Ou… stop that" she pulled her arm without much luck "They'll find it! They have a dragon slayer with them, you… ass!"

He pulled her other hand and restrained both of them with magic cancelling cuffs "Well… he won't be able to follow your scent while we are inside this magic cube, whatever your escape plan was it won't do much for you now"

The celestial mage didn't respond, she didn't need to; in her head she had gotten what she wanted and even if they didn't release Gray she hoped with every bit of her soul that if she was in real danger he would know. Lucy was sure of many things, and one of them was the fact that the warm soothing her pain was him and that was an idea she was not willing to get rid of.

There would be many mentions of Lucy's actions that night… some people will come to call her impulsive, some will claim her plans had been stupid and rash, some will call her brave but what all those people would fail to notice is that this… was the act of a desperate woman trying to cling to hope, and there is NOTHING more dangerous than a desperate woman.

No one was trained to see how this had broken her, just as they had disregarded Natsu's attitude, just like they had never stopped to question him for never sharing his pain, and never had asked questions or pushed him out of his comfort zone… it wasn't their fault, they were all fighters that thrived in the midst of battle, they were emotionally awkward and patched together by other people who were equally patched and they loved each other more than anything… but sometimes love is not enough.

They had failed to notice Lucy was at the end of her sanity, her mate bond so stretched… someone had explained way before that the bonds were as definitive as life and death, if one of them died the other would follow; Gajeel had said way before, that if she died Natsu would probably tear the town apart before succumbing to his own death… so why would anyone expect for her to keep her sanity when she knew he could be lost forever?

She walked, not dragging her feet but with her eyes looking at the stars sending a quiet apology to her spirits who will undoubtedly hear about what she'd done and wouldn't be able to reach her…

* * *

It took Ria some time to gather her energy and come back to the castle, it was straining her and she wondered how long she could keep the charade of her strength before things kept crumbling down….

She arrived to the same spot she left, her library looked empty and cold and he had to sit down for a bit to recover from the drain of her magic; while taking in the ethernano in the air she tasted something different and hissed through her teeth "We seem to have an uninvited guest"


	37. Chapter 37

**Hey Kiddos! Sorry I couldn't do an early upload as I expected, I had a death in the family and I was not feeling up for much. But anyways, in our section of "What quote are you using to depress us today?" Dear A has 2 selected quotes that fucking match to perfection with today's chapter.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"I've never loved the wrong person, but I have loved the right people at the wrong time. The wrong life. The wrong moment."**  
 **― Dominic Riccitello**

 **"How many times did we pass each other before we met? If only I'd known…. I would have searched for you endlessly.  
If only I'd found you before it was already too late."  
― Ranata Suzuki**

* * *

 **Previously:**

It took Ria some time to gather her energy and come back to the castle, it was straining her, and she wondered how long she could keep the charade of her strength before things kept crumbling down…

She arrived to the same spot she left, her library looked empty and cold and he had to sit down for a bit to recover from the drain of her magic; while taking in the ethernano in the air she tasted something different and hissed through her teeth "We seem to have an uninvited guest"

* * *

Remy tried to swallow but his mouth felt dry, almost as if he'd drank a glass full of sand... raspy, constricted and pained; he scrunched his face and tried to open his eyes immediately noticing something was different as one of them was being covered by some sort of fabric. He groggily tried to pull himself up when the clinging sound of the shackles reminded him of his confinement, almost like a chime filled with sadness and desolation.

There were too many things going on in his head, he felt anxious and panicked at the lack of clarity he was experiencing. His breathing became ragged and his shackled fists shook… what was happening? Why he of all people had to be left alone in this unknown place, looking for some ground to stand on.

He went back to his training; Remy was an expert military man and he tried to focus his breathing to retrace steps…

 _'Ask yourself where you were last…what's the last thing you remember, wiggle your fingers and toes to make sure everything works fine, count to ten while breathing deeply, focus on the smells, the room temperature and the surface you are touching… anything at this point would work'_ In theory that worked, but this place had no smells except for something similar to ashes; he knew he was laying on a floor otherwise he would be constantly falling but for some reason he couldn't feel it... it was almost as if something and nothing collided forming whatever was underneath him.

The fog started clearing from his mind little by little with each calming breath and then he remembered slowly… he had met with the so called demon king, the man he swore on his life to eliminate, the one he was meant to torture and decimate to make sure his evilness didn't taint the righteous world he lived in first, the soulless creature sent to recreate the world's worst nightmares... right?… no… that wasn't the truth… the tiny voice inside his head told him as much.

The pain in his heart told him too... that version was the first he'd heard and now knew it to be incorrect… how long ago did that feel. He closed his uncovered eye and frowned; a small tier fell from his uncovered eye while his mind took him on the wild adventure of seeing the similarities between them now clearer than ever. How ironic to see yourself reflected in someone you considered your mortal enemy.

But then again, wasn't that what war was about? two sides of the same coin... both fighting for what they have been told is right and not really knowing a single thing about the true reasons behind it all, two groups that hated each other with their very core but had never met, part of the same race but with slight differences that play an important role in determining whose right and wrong... all in the eye of the beholder.

He nodded, mostly to himself... both had been left to fend for themselves, both had trusted the wrong people and had been led to acts that would shatter someone's soul into pieces and force them to wish for the sweet release of death… but not them… they stood, facing their actions, owning the consequences and would risk everything to right their wrongs; how wrong had he been about the Demon King… not only him but also about the man he had considered a savior in his youth.

His name resonated inside his head _'Shiro...'_ and his world seemed to collapse once again, just as it did when his so called enemies had shared their information, and again while it all sank into his mind… was everything he had learnt a lie?

When he started listening to what they had to say he told himself they were trying to trick him, just like biblical demons would, but even then there was a little voice in the back of his head that knew… the tiny voice became bigger and louder with each of their words because how could you be on the right by doing so many incorrect things?

Remy had been judge, savior, and executioner, he knew he had been a sinner and a saint all depending on the situation and the storyteller, but the truth was undeniable… he had taken lives, and some he wasn't sure were justifiable, which led him to the situation he currently found himself in… alone…

He had agreed to help both of them get rid of the darkness that had been forced into their lives by their families, because he knew now that while Natsu may have not been someone he liked or wished to keep as company… he wasn't the villain, but a mere peon, just like he was.

It made sense… when Mal explained what the plan would consist on he had mentioned that Shiro wasn't who he thought he was, he had let him in the cursed family history being held above Natsu's head and the feud between his father figure and the matriarchs of the family and he remembered what Shiro had told him during one of their last meetings.

 _"We don't need them; we can take our enemies down ourselves Shiro"_

 _"Have you seen them?... Our enemies Remy, have… you… seen… them?"_

 _"No, but that doesn't mean…"_

 _"They have been here all the time, unseen for centuries until now, you haven't seen them because they don't want to be seen; our enemies are the creation of Gods and Demons, and are not a thing to take lightly"_

 _"Oh, come on, how would YOU know? It's not like you've seen them"_

 _"I have"_

 _"But you said…"_

 _"I did. Anyways, they won't let us near them, and we have not been able to find their hiding place, but they will let their precious prince near, and he will make the best decision for his family, as usual"_

 _"You don't know that"_

 _"If there's one thing I know about his bloodline is that they will always sacrifice themselves in the end"_

 _"I don't think the Dark wizard got the memo"_

 _"You are still too naive, the boy we all feared so much sacrificed everything to bring his brother back, his mortality, his soul, his complete humanity"_

 _"So?"_

 _"If Zeref was alive, we wouldn't be able to get rid of Natsu, If Natsu hadn't been saved by Zeref no one would be strong enough to destroy Nihil and its witches, and if they are not destroyed, the council will"_

 _"You speak as if this was all part of a bigger plan Shiro"_

 _"Because it is; they are a tainted branch of a bloodline, one that should not prevail"_

He wondered how he could've been so blind, there was an obvious hate in his master's words and not only that but apparently he had seen creatures that had been hidden for centuries… creatures that were more related to Gods and Demons and had left whatever humanity they had sink in the ocean of their hate.

Yes, he would help... his anger was now directed at one single person and the reason was quite clear. He had been lied to, used for a personal agenda, his intelligence mocked by someone he had trusted with his life and he had done exactly as the man pleased for years... he had been made a fool and not only was his pride bruised but his soul tainted with the blood of innocent people. He wondered when he had become so manipulative that he would rather risk a life without questions instead of fighting for it.

Remy took a deep breath and inspected himself; his hand was tightly wrapped with bandages and didn't hurt anymore… it had been nice on their part to offer to fix it for him, it would never be the same, but it would be almost visibly normal and somewhat functional; a small smile crept its way to his face when remembering Natsu's pained expression, he understood... he really did _'I'd like to say sorry… but I'm not… you killed me that day'_ He knew it was true, he had killed him, maybe not body but soul, he had allowed a woman whose mind was long gone to roam free and caused everything to fall down like dominos.

The image of Merryl's blooded corpse still haunted him but he knew… she had died because he hadn't stopped her, quite the contrary he had encouraged her behavior; things wouldn't have been different if she wasn't there since he had the plan to kill the celestial mage all along… at the right time; the red headed woman's blood was as much in Natsu's hands as it was on his.

The defeated man took a deep breath before moving his eyes towards the other end of the void where the once proud dragon was hanging from his own restrains, looking at nothing as he had for what he now knew was centuries.

He feared the dragon, but also despised him and before thinking he whispered to himself believing the creature wouldn't hear him "Tsk...Beast…" the huge figure raised his immense face and snarled "Beast? You, pathetic human…" he flinched and cursed himself for his stupidity, that had not been a good way to start and he knew there were many habits he had to get rid of "My apologies, amm… sir?" he felt stupid, Sir? Was that even a proper way to address a lost mythological creature? … "I don't know how to refer to you, never have I met a dragon before"

"You and your kind have no right to refer to me, you should've been wiped from earth!" the dragon's low growl didn't echo, it couldn't in the void… but its sound was so strong that it resonated in Remy's ears either way, like a rumbling volcano "You dirty creature… we should have gotten rid of you when we could"

"You wouldn't have been allowed"

"Dead! You weaklings should all be dead!"

"Give me a chance to prove we are not all bad" the dragon laughed "You can't hide from me… I see your tainted soul, I smell your sins on your soul and the blood on your skin, you cannot fool me!"

There was a definitive tone in his voice, but he knew he couldn't let this go, everything depended on him talking to the mighty creature "I have too many sins to account for, and I am trying to atone for them, if you would just listen…"

"I have no desire to help you atone for anything, you can rot in the abyss for eternity for all I care! I will be here way beyond your time… human"

"Please, I bring you news from the outside!" The dragon laughed painfully "Why would I care about the outside world when it has forgotten about me?"

"There's one that remembers…"

"You are pathetic and a liar!" Remy looked up and stared right into his huge dark eyes "I do not lie! He remembers you… vividly…"

"You expect me to believe you? It's been over 400 hundred years boy! Whoever remembers me is either an angel or a demon and they won't be coming for me while we are here"

Remy gulped knowing it was now or never "He was a young boy when you met, pink hair, fire in his eyes... surely you remember"

Of course he remembered him, that boy and his family had been the ones who had cost him everything… "I killed him, centuries ago… you lie" Remy shook his head "He's alive and knows of your presence here"

"I remember the smell of his blood and the last beating of his pitiful heart! The stench of his pathetic life ceasing!"

"Well he sure punches hard for a dead guy..." He gave him an amused look, hoping to spike his interest. "I'll amuse you since I have nothing better to do at this time… why would I care?" Remy nodded; he was getting to him even if it was a tiny window "He'll come to us when I call… He will get you out of here on one condition"

"Even if it was true… I would refuse to accommodate the demands of a filthy human" Remy pulled his chains in a desperate display "He's not a regular human! Why won't you listen?"

"He's a worthless human! Just like you are… flesh and bones"

Remy felt the need to stand his ground; why he felt as if he had to protect Natsu's honor, he didn't know... maybe it was the fact that he had played an important part in taking so much away from him, maybe he felt responsible for breaking him to the point where he wasn't sure who he was anymore. He raised his voice more than what he thought he was capable of "He is the demon king, grandchild of the sorceress you hate, son of the disgraced Boetian Prince who was the claimed son of Ares!" the dragon froze and kept quiet for a minute, his eyes trying to make sense of something Remy couldn't pinpoint.

"No... It can't be… Mars would have burnt me to the ground if his progeny had fallen under my claws, the God of war knows no forgiveness, you lie" Remy shook his head "Maybe he thought this was a better punishment for hurting his children"

The dragon considered for a second and shook his immense head "He could be a demigod or a forgotten price for all I care… he is not my king, Dragons may pay their respects to the Gods but we do not serve them"

"No… you serve your own king, don't you?"

"Who I serve is of no concern to you mortal"

Remy matched his stare with confidence… how many Dragon kings could there be? He doubt there were too many and he took a wild guess "Igneel…" The creature snarled viciously, pulling his restrains and for a moment the former knight feared the creature would break away and tear him apart "YOU DARE TO SPEAK HIS NAME! YOU, UNWORTHY HUMAN!"

"I wonder what the Fire Dragon King would say if he knew you refused to assist his son…" The dragon's head snapped immediately, a frown deepening on his face making him look angrier than before, and an even deeper growl came from him, one so intimidating that Remy visibly flinched "Ignia is an unworthy successor… too consumed by his own power, I would never accept him as my king"

"I do not know who that is, but he is of little to no concern to me…" the dragon laughed causing the air passing through his broken teeth make a whistling sound "The fire Dragon king had only one hatchling, and even he could tell his son was tainted before birth"

"Which is probably why he picked a successor" The Dragon blinked a couple of times and shook his head again "Stupid human... you have very little knowledge of how our world works"

"As do you… four centuries are not a short time, things have changed too much" he sighed "He chose someone who could carry his undying will... a resurrected pink haired boy… a dragon slayer, raised by Igneel himself, a man that became a king in his own right since he claimed power on his own nest by mere strength"

The Dragon was baffled… a dragon raising a human child, a king not only in succession but in his own right "That's… impossible"

"I saw it happening, they were all forced to kneel under his power"

"A human cannot hold that much power! Not even someone raised by the king himself!"

"They thought you would refuse to believe… you've been away for too long; they wanted you to know he was not the only one that took on a human child" there was a moment of silence before Remy continued "Grandeeney, Metalicana, Skiadrum, and Weisslogia also took human children as their own"

"His court?! Lies! Nothing but lies!"

"You will see for yourself soon enough…" The dragon grunted, still not believing the possibility that things had gone so bad that the mighty dragons had taken to training human children "What does _the fake king_ want then?"

"The truth… only that""

* * *

With as little strength as she had regained, Aporia slammed the dark wooden door open and walked to where the energy source came from; she was not surprised to see it came from the end of the aisle, where her grandson's room was.

"Why does that boy cause so much trouble?" Aporia straightened her look while walking, she didn't want them to sense something was wrong with her and once in front of Natsu's door, she opened it without bothering to knock and what she saw made her instinctively stretch her hand out, summoning her powers, which she immediately realize was a stupid thing to do…

It was apparently too much too soon; instead of a powerful purple cloud came a see-through fog that barely made it a couple inches far from her fingers before she retracted her hand and smirked trying to pretend that was her intention, although deep inside she cursed herself. Her eyes were staring daggers at the dark-haired man standing by the window; she waved her hand to get rid of the leftover fog and rolled her eyes, continuing her sad attempt to cover appearances.

They really weren't surprised to see her; they knew it was a matter of time and all had immediately sensed her returning to the castle. Everyone had been ready for her to attack the ice mage, and when that didn't happen the silence between them filled the room creating an uncomfortable environment.

Aporia noticed Mal observing her a bit too much and her concern grew thinking he may have noticed something was off with her because of her sad attempt, so, she decided to clear her throat to break the silence.

"What is this?" She said pointing at Gray with disgust; Natsu snorted, she immediately sensed him different somehow but couldn't quite pinpoint it "A visitor, you know what that is right?"

"Do not… play smart with me, boy… my patience is running thin today" She kept pointing her finger at him in a defying way "Let's finish him and call it a day, shall we?" Natsu tensed but before he could respond Mal stood in between his place on the bed and Aporia "Now, why would we do that to such a valuable member of our allegiance?"

"Please, don't insult my intelligence" Aporia walked around him and inspected Gray's marking on his arm "Interesting magic you have there… I once met a wicked man with the same markings" the dark-haired man scrunched his nose but didn't fall for the bait "Probably my father, he worked with Tartaros for some time"

"Oh yes, how to forget Silver, an impressive man… very handsome" She smirked at him while brushing her finger above the black marks of his arm, causing him to feel fire in the pit of his stomach "What are you doing here Mr. Fullbuster?" Gray walked closer to Natsu and stood next to the bed "Well… I guess you could say, like father like son… I'm standing in my rightful place, witch… We've always been brothers in arms, you didn't think that was going to stop, did you?"

"Oh, you expect me to believe you've succumbed to darkness too, abandoned your pathetic little guild to fend for themselves?"

"You can believe what you fucking want to believe, I ain't here because of you" Gray crossed his arms above his now somehow naked chest, and turned to Natsu before internally flinching, thinking of his next words; he knew his friend would never let him forget it "My lord… there's still much Intel to gather and I'm sure you will need it to take down the ones who have risen against you"

The pinkette had to bite his tongue and hold his breath to avoid the laughter to come out as an explosion, but gave his friend an amused look while arching his eyebrow "Of course, we need as much as we can get, proceed with the plans that we've discussed"

Aporia fisted her hands, she wanted to tear him limp by limp and remove that smug look from his face, but Hades had been clear… her magic would not replenish as before and this was something she couldn't afford "So… you are planning to join for good? Join the blood bond ceremony and link your fate to ours?" The ice make mage didn't even flinch, he laughed loudly and gave her an amused expression "Why would I be here if I wasn't"

"I'm not buying it" Gray and Natsu felt a bit nervous but their faces remained expressionless. "Ok, so take him out yourself if you don't believe him" at Mal's words, both former team mates skipped a heartbeat but when nothing happened they grew curious as well.

Aporia knew he was baiting her; the knight must have noticed her magic recede and was trying to test the theory and she knew she had to be careful around him from now on "He's one that walks with the light, not the shadow… and now you expect me to believe he had a change of heart all of the sudden?"

"We've all walked with the light at some point and have chosen our path, why can't he?"

"We all had our reasons to do so, this is not the same" Mal snorted and shook his head "We all had revenge to lead us, I wanted to pay for my sins and to avenge my own, same as you and the rest"

"He has no one to avenge" Gray took a step forward "No one to avenge? The council has been trying to destroy us since day one, they worked with the son of a bitch that got to my friends and I failed them, do you not think that to be reason enough?"

Mal nodded and smiled at Gray silently congratulating him for his fast thinking "Our lord trusts him and so do we… are you willing to go against the Prince's wishes?" she bit the inside of her lip and turned towards Mal "You better not betray me, whatever you are trying to pull here I'll figure it out and end you"

Despite him being tired and in pain, it took Natsu merely two seconds to press her against the wall and place his mouth right next to her ear. The pain coursed through her body and she gasped, she didn't remember how pain would normally feel… not that she couldn't get hurt but she could stand much more than this "Threaten my advisers again… see what happens, and Ria…" she looked up at him, and for the first time he saw fear in her eyes and he was delighted to be the one causing it "If you ever enter my room without my permission again, I'll rip your throat out with my bare hands, is that clear?" he released her and walked back to the bed trying to hide the pain the effort had caused him.

Aporia tried her best to keep her fear in check, she patted her clothes and straightened her back "Very well then…" she turned on her heels and left through the door leaving a sense of uneasiness behind her, and finally everyone released a breath they didn't know they were holding.

"What now?" Natsu looked at Gray as if he'd grown two heads and grunted "I was all in for sending your ass back! Why are you asking me?!"

"Ashbreath! you are the fucking leader!" the ice mage grunted "Can you use that thick head of yours for once!"

"Now you make sure Natsu stays safe, we will all go to your camp before dawn and retrieve the rest" Mal said while shaking his head, those boys sure had a weird way of caring for each other.

"Woah, hold one second there" The pinkette straightened his back and raised his finger to make a point "You said Luce had to come, you didn't say jack shit about the rest" he felt his nickname for her roll on his tongue as if suddenly it became again the most natural thing in the world, and it scared him because in only a couple of hours he would have to pretend it was like poison for him.

"Natsu… you said so yourself, Ms. Lockhart would find us in no time"

"Then let Gray stay behind with her!" the ice make mage cleared his throat "Yeah but we kind of told bitch supreme that I was on your side, so…" Natsu cursed himself "Fine… Luce and Juvia and that's it"

"Yeah… but…" Natsu fisted his hands on the sheets "BUT?! What Ice-Princess!?"

"S'not like we are going to be able to stop Erza, man, ask me anything you want but that, she was this close" he signaled with his thumb and index finger "To murdering me earlier" Natsu sighed deeply and was about to reply when Gray continued "And Jellal won't leave her side"

"Well fuck me… are you planning to bring the whole fucking guild?!" Mal's tightened his shoulders scrunched his nose before he raised his finger "Actually… it wouldn't be all bad to have Ms. McGarden here… she's good with runes and she did figure out part of Ria's book"

"Not sure what that plan is but Gajeel won't let her come if he is not with her" Natsu was close to ripping his own hair off; this was not going the way he'd originally planned "FINE… but that's it…."

"You're not planning on leaving Wendy on her own, are you?"

"Wen… why is she even there! FUCK!... " The dark haired mage shrugged "Not like she asked for permission, she kind of sneaked in"

"I'll be damn; I guess we are housing the entire team plus some more!" Gray was more than amused, of course Natsu seemed ticked off, but he knew the dragon slayer all too well and was sure than underneath all the pain and anger he was just anxious to see their friends, or at least he hoped that was the case.

Natsu took a deep breath and painfully walked out of bed "I'm taking a walk" he sensed the objections coming and turned with a stern look on his face "It's not a question, I need some fresh air" Mal knew exactly where he was going, he looked at Gray and signaled with his head suggesting he followed his friend.

The pinkette walked through the aisles and across the main hall; once he was outside he noticed there were still people up and about who nodded in respect, but he didn't care about them… he disregarded their looks and walked straight to the small garden Neri had built.

His fingers caressed a few petals while he walked further in, and once on the center he noticed something weird; in the middle, where she had started her creation the flowers now looked more opaque, almost as if loosing the natural brightness her magic had covered them with, and it concerned him; Natsu didn't want to think that maybe… just maybe… this meant she was… No, he wouldn't… this was just because she'd been away for too long, the kids would be fine… right?

He heard a couple of branches crack and emitted a low growl, just enough to warn people to keep their distance, but as soon as he took in the scent, he rolled his eyes and sat on the floor.

"What? A man can't enjoy of some privacy?"

"Hey Ashbreath… what's on your mind?" Natsu gave Gray an amused look "Cut the crap, we" he pointed at himself before pointing back at Gray "don't do this"

"And maybe that's what we did wrong, don't you think?" he didn't reply, he just laid on the ground and looked up to the sky "Maybe if we had talked shit out instead of what we usually did…"

"It ain't your fault asshole, don't you dare make this about you" Gray laid next to Natsu and looked up too, they were both uncomfortable, just like whenever they talked about deep stuff. Generally they would cover it with an argument or a fight and that made things less awkward, but now that was not an option "It kind of is, I mean not just me… you just seemed so happy and oblivious all the time we thought"

"I was fine…" The dark-haired man snorted "Sure… fine, people that are fine have recurrent nightmares and almost get killed frequently"

"That's just part of the job, man" he shook his head "Nope, even to our standards… you always ended up pushing us away and throwing yourself into the fire as a sacrificial lamb, that ain't right"

There was more than a couple minutes of silence, Gray had nothing else to say and soon got lost in the darkness of the sky and the brightness of the thousand stars; he was sad, he had failed in all the possible ways and now didn't know how to make things better, and suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by his friend's whispering voice.

"Is just… I thought if I pretended to be fine, I would eventually believe I was, I… didn't want to be… you know…"

"A burden? Man, come the fuck on… every single person at home knows you cause trouble but we also know most of us wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you, do you think we mind you burning a couple things off?"

"That's not what I meant"

"I know… but still" Gray sighed "Anyway… I really think you should consider letting Lucy in, she'll get it and her and Levy are super smart, I'm sure with their help…"

Natsu sat up and fisted his hands, this was something no one else could understand "No…" Gray sat up and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder but was quickly slapped away "You wouldn't understand"

"Well not if you don't give me the chance!" The pinkette stood up and paced for a bit brushing his hair with one hand until suddenly the words started spilling out without his permission "You know how long it's been since I know I'm going to die?" he didn't wait for his reply "Since I was released from the council"

Gray had heard some of it from the Master, maybe not all but enough to figure that out, still hearing it from Natsu himself made his heart clench; his mouth parted to speak but was interrupted again by a ranting Natsu "And I was ok with it… I'd made my choice and as soon as I laid eyes on her again I just… I thought maybe I could change things and fix everything"

"We can, if we…"

"What? Work together? Gray come on… we are not kids anymore, we can't fix this anymore than we could fix your father or Igneel's death, there are some things you can't fix"

"You are the one who always seemed to do things as if there was no such thing as 'no escape scenarios' what the fuck happened to you?" Gray stood up now and remained behind Natsu "What happened to the idiot that would wing it and make shit switch to his favor?"

"He grew up man… and he realized that some things can't change, no matter how hard you try" Gray felt bad for his friend as now he was the mere shadow of what he used to be "I tried to rescue Lucy and to save everyone and that led me to taking a life, a worthless one but a life no less… I tried to get the council off your back and that led me to strike a deal to avoid my stupid actions from affecting you, one that would most definitely kill me… I tried to steer away from it, to live my life with Lucy; I thought if I sucked it up for 6 months, they wouldn't have anything to go after me anyways and I couldn't even do that!"

"Natsu… what are you talking about?"

"Shiro… he wants to end this place, he wanted to end all of them, so he wanted me to come here and commit to a blood bond and then burn everything to the ground"

"Which would kill you too… what if you don't do that?"

"Then I stay here, the council goes after you and kills everyone they can lay hands on and if that happens then I much rather be dead too" He was surprised by his own words, but the shocking part was the feeling of devastation that accompanied those words, any doubt he had before evaporated with that pain… his soul was anchoring itself and unwilling to leave and that was both good and bad.

If his soul was there it would react to Lucy's, maybe he wouldn't feel the love he felt before, but his soul would still go after her no matter what, making his actions instinct driven and uncalculated.

"Dumbass! We are Fairy Tail! We'll fight back and we..."

"What? you will what Gray!? Defeat the council? Fine... I'll believe that" he shook his head "At what cost?" There was a moment of silence before Natsu sighed "Will you be willing to lose Asuka?" Gray opened and closed his smile several times "How about Wendy and Romeo? Erza, Juvia, Gramps! Are you willing to lose lives on this?"

"We won't lose anyone, we can..."

"Now who's being dense and naive? I can see the headlines... "The Dark guild Fairy Tail kills the magic council" how does that sound, uhm?"

It dawned on him... his friend was right, there was no scenario in which things would go back exactly to what they were "There has to be a way out" Natsu shook his head "I kill Shiro and his henchman, then I come back and take the dark guilds down… it's the only way man, don't you see?" Gray tilted his head and scrunched his nose "The rest of the dark guilds are not that strong, they would take ages to regain power and for once there would be peace… you, Gajeel and the rest will be free to raise a family and do all those things normal people do…"

"And you?" Natsu's lip curled upward "I ain't made for normal ice-princess"

"Lucy will never move on, you need to…"

"What? Lie to her and tell her I'll love her forever? I don't know if I can do that anymore, don't you see?!" Natsu lowered his face and stared at his feet; his hands were fisted to the point where his knuckles looked white because of the pressure "She'll stay with me even if I don't have a soul to give her anymore, she'll never leave… I need to pretend I don't care, I need to stay away from her because if I don't, whatever is left of me will see hope and will try to avoid the unavoidable… this is a plan I can't back down from"

"You're scared…" the pinkette took a deep breath and nodded "I am… I let it happen once, and I can't let it happen again… If I get too close, I'll drop everything, I can't be selfish anymore. She deserves better... man… just, please do as I asked?"

Gray promised himself he'll get his friend back, no matter if it was against his will; he would find the way for everyone to survive and show the idiot standing in front of him that he could still be the guy who didn't believe in no escape scenarios, but for now he would go with it.

"I will.." the black haired man extended his hand and after a couple seconds Natsu did the same, believing shacking his hand would legitimize the pact they've made. It didn't take long for them to walk back and enter the building in full silence; the few people from the dark guilds that noticed their presence sent suspicious looks towards the ice mage but he pretended not to notice until a voice made them stop in their tracks.

"M-My Lord…" Natsu turned with a tired expression and sighed "What…"

The tall, lean man bowed with respect and gulped "The Guild leaders would like to address you…" Natsu clicked his tongue "I'm busy" he was about to turn when the man flinched and continue "My lord... it's just…"

"You gotta be fucking kidding me…" The man knelt immediately, not daring to look directly at him "I am merely a messenger… my prince… please"

"Name?" the man looked up questioningly "Your name…" the man bowed again "The name is Marek"

"Ok… Marek… speak before I lose interest…" Gray was surprised by Natsu's unforgiving tone, which was nothing like his usual carefree, happy, clueless one "The leaders… are concerned about y-your leadership"

"Is that so?" the lean man nodded before standing up slowly "They… recognized your companion as an enemy, and wondered if our plans have deraigned from the original path"

Gray cursed himself, of course they would know who he was, is not like fairy tail kept their members hidden with all the magazine covers and the grand games; but still… Natsu didn't look concerned.

"Very well… Mr. Fullbuster gather the rest of my advisers and have them meet me outside" Gray almost snorted at being called 'Mr. Fullbuster' by his idiotic best friend, but he kept appearances and bowed before retreating to Natsu's room to get the rest.

He walked fast through the aisle and pushed the door open "Ok, we have an issue" Mal and Helle blinked a couple of times, and Gray noticed he may have interrupted a private conversation "The dark guilds know who I am, and they ain't happy… they summoned Natsu to speak to them"

"That's not good…"

"It'll be fine, we just need to come up with more crap like we did with that creepy woman" Mal shook his head "They would never dare to summon Natsu… they are terrified of him, they barely look him in the eye in regular days"

"Well… let's not keep his royal pain in the butt waiting then…" they walked rapidly through the aisles and crossed the main hall to reach the entrance, and once they were out, they froze.

They shouldn't have been surprised to see them there… not really, this had Aporia written all over the place since the start; why would they think she'd let matters go.

Natsu was standing menacingly, fists balled and a growl in his throat staring daggers at his grandmother while she kept her smirk, the leaders standing next to her and a nervous looking Elle.

"You dare to question me?!" Gray shook a bit from Natsu's tone… anchoring the feeling this was not the man he knew "YOU DARE?!"

"The leaders are simply concerned about the safety of their members with a rotten fairy in the ranks… my prince" Aporia's crooked smiled seemed to rile him up even more than before "It is none of my concern if you are too weak to stand your ground against a light guild! And if you are, then you should remove yourself from this camp because I can assure you… you won't survive for long"

A tall well-built man, bigger than Elfman took a step forward; his thick brown beard covered half of his face but not the scar that crossed from his left temple to his cheek. Even with his black shirt and brown knee length coat you could see the muscles from his arms moving as he tensed them "You promised revenge against our enemies, and here you are bringing one of them to our camp!"

"The council is our enemy" The man shook his head "They have taken down many of our comrades, they are with the council, they are one of the biggest enemies we'll ever face"

"We're not" Gray stepped forward and stood next to Natsu, who relaxed a bit just by sensing his presence "The council has disgraced us, Fairy Tail is no longer a light guild" there were murmurs all over the place but the leaders' face didn't change "That changes nothing"

"It changes everything" Gray walked towards the man; the scene almost looked ridiculous since his head barely reached the man's stomach "You said we were one of the biggest enemies… what do you think we are to the council now then?" the man frowned but remained silent "They will be scared when we come knocking on their door and finally all the blood they shed will be repaid a thousand times over!" there were a few nods and more murmur.

"We can't trust you… Fairy" Gray snorted "Then don't… I don't give a shit, but you do need to realize if your leader made the decision to bring his old team back it is because of one, very specific, very accurate reason"

"Which is?" the black-haired man looked up and scrunched his nose "You are not enough against your enemies…. If you haven't been able to beat Fairy Tail then you will be nothing against the council" The man roared and pushed his fist against Gray but he fell forward and hit the floor.

It took the ice mage no effort to jump high above the giant's head to avoid the blow before summoning his ice hammer and hitting him straight on his back. The man took a couple of seconds to get himself together but stood up and rushed towards him again but before he could reach his enemy the floor change to tall icy spikes and he barely had time to stop himself.

One of the spikes had ended up close enough that when he gulped, the tip scratched the skin on his neck "You're just going to hurt yourself asshole…" Gray turned around and looked at the other leaders "Now we can do this all night… or you can choose now… are we going to be allies or enemies?"

He suddenly felt the temperature increase and when he turned, Natsu's eyes were bright amber; Gray saw his friend walking slowly towards the giant man still encased in ice "You… think you fear the fairies… but do you know what you should really fear?"

Everyone saw fear flickering in the man's eyes "M-my l-lord?" Natsu cranked his neck and climbed the ice making it melt a bit until his eyes matched the man in front of him "You think I need you here? I'll take the council down myself if I need to… you are merely here to serve whatever purpose I choose you for and right now that is to form an army worthy of a king…"

The man was sweating and Gray was pretty sure also wetting his pants, the claws, the amber eyes, the fire flickering around him and the now sharper teeth… that didn't even look like what Natsu looked before… this was darker… more demonic even…

"But we have no king… dearie… do we?" Natsu's head whipped almost inhumanly towards Aporia, her thick blue skirt flowing in the wind along with her now messy bun "I AM YOUR KING!"

"Technically… no, not yet" She smiled again, proudly and in that second Natsu lost interest in his current pray, he landed on hands and feet, almost in an animalistic way. Elle stood in front of Aporia and knelt "Natsu… calm down please listen" a growl came from his throat so deep that it echoed through the forest behind them "Y-you are our leader and p-prince… but not a king… yet"

He stood up on his legs and faced the dark guilds "Will one of you want to challenge me for the crown? Come on… I'm all fired up now" every man and woman took a couple of steps back "They will do no such thing; they are aware they won't be able to defeat you… but…"

"BUT…." He was hanging by a thread, every instinct in his body was telling him to go for the kill, to close his jaw on her porcelain neck and rip her veins away until she died "I am the regent of this land until you go through kingship"

Natsu could feel the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, and deep inside knew this display of power was hurting his already tired body, but he wouldn't budge "So… then I'll kill you, simple enough isn't it?"

"You really don't want to do that" he laughed "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well I am the only one who can perform the blood bond ceremony"

"After you are dead why would the ceremony matter?" she smiled and shook her head "Your men distrust your leadership already… I am sure they would rather know you had to keep them alive, don't you think?"

He growled with anger, he knew she had him where she wanted him and there was no way out… if he allowed the dark guilds to walk away all his sacrifice would be for nothing. His aura became even darker and more menacing, but he remained rooted to his place "That's not all…" Natsu gave her a frustrated look.

"The leaders think we should create a stronger alliance with them… in order to make sure once we get rid of the council and the light guilds our reign can expand and progress"

Mal took a step forward now, not liking a bit her excited tone "And what would that alliance require… Ria"

"Three days before the blood bond, our prince will choose a maiden to marry and bed" There was a moment of silence before Natsu snapped out of his dark trance, his aura disappearing into nothing leaving the real Natsu behind yelling in a tone a bit more acute than what the dark guilds were used to listening from him "What the fuck are you talking about?!"

Gray, recognized that tone… that was his friend resurfacing and in shock. Aporia walked closer to him with a joyful face "A maiden my lord, to secure our family's reign, you know… to produce an heir for the dark guilds"

"No, no, no… w-wait a minute here!" She tilted her head faking innocence "But isn't that what you want? To procure a healthy, majestic kingdom? That's why we think it best to happen before the blood bond! You shall be bonded with your chosen queen and unborn child" she clapped her hands together in excitement.

Mal was pale; he'd always known Aporia was smart and cunning… but this? It could only mean she knew, or at least she imagined their plan was to take them down… because how would one come to the conclusion to kill his own child? She was trying to force him to stay, to lead and to do as she wanted him to do.

The Ice make mage moved forward, he had to say something and couldn't think of something more logical to say, "Even if that happened, you can't possibly force someone's pregnancy in tree days!"

"You can't… I can make sure it happens"

Gray and Elle were speechless, looking from Natsu to Aporia and back and they could see the gears in Natsu's brain working to find a way out of this. The pinkette looked at the dark guild leaders and bit his lip "What if I refuse?"

Another of the leaders took a step forward, this was a shorter man, still well built but it was obvious his strength was more on his head than his body "We'll walk away from the alliance"

"I would come after you if you do…" Fear was Natsu's last resource but he was willing to use it "I took down two dark guilds before you came… what makes you think I would spare you?"

"We don't think you would, and we are willing to take that chance… My lord; a true leader would take his loyal servants' requests into consideration"

Natsu kept thinking on ways to change this, he knew it wasn't right… for one his blood line was cursed from the beginning… a foolish king gone mad, willing to sacrifice his children, a father that tried to escape destiny only to fall along his family, a brother who retraced his grandfather's footsteps by bringing death and sorrow and then him… a boy who died, who was kept in a lacrima until his revival as some sort of hybrid… no more human than demon and dragon, one part of him claimed by the Gods and the other left to rot…. Why would he want that cursed line to continue?

His second thought was the act itself… he realized then that with 'bed' they meant he would need to have sex with a woman and that almost made him gag. Natsu had been oblivious to the opposite sex for his entire life, even when he met Lucy he truly didn't realize he was attracted to her, no, she was a best friend, an ally, she was family… except he felt for her a bit different than what he felt for the rest of his friends.

Truth be told, when Gildards had 'that talk' with him he thought it was gross and found absolutely no appeal to it, hence… everyone thought he was simply asexual and for some time he did too… and then things changed and once they did he couldn't deny how the things he'd heard form the guys in the guild now sounded interesting but only if Lucy was involved. The mere thought of having someone else on his lips, his tongue, his hands was enough to make him cringe… those things didn't seem right unless it was Lucy.

He noticed people were staring at him, waiting for his response and he knew then whatever happened he needed to gain some time, he couldn't let the worse guilds in the land to simply walk away from him and ruin this opportunity. Natsu gulped and open his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Mal "Then it shall be done… gather a list of maidens willing to participate"

The shock on Natsu, Helle, and Gray's face was visible, even Nephele had her mouth slightly open for the short silence that took over. The same leader who had spoken last nodded and smiled "How will our lord pick his mate?"

"Our Prince won't chose a mate… this is a political arrangement as prove of our allegiance and his commitment to it" he nodded before Mal proceeded "We shall have tournament then, our lord not take a wife that is unworthy; she shall be no less than warrior queen since we are trying to built the strongest kingdom"

Some of the girls started looking around, at least half of them frowned knowing who they would be up against, and some others had sadistic smiles on their faces "And a warrior queen he shall have; my prince…" the leader bowed "We'll prepare a list for you… the games will begin a week before the blood bond, leaving enough time for you to claim the winner for yourself three days before the ceremony"

Natsu gulped and nodded before turning on his heal "Now… if you will excuse us, my advisers and I have a war to plan… Aporia, join us" his face was almost stoic, but his friends could all tell he was panicking inside.

Both his grandmothers followed him inside along with his friends who had now been formally presented as his advisers and once they were out of reach, he turned and grabbed Ria's wrist twisting it painfully.

"What the FUCK do you think you are doing?!" he pulled and noticed her wincing, it was strange to see her affected by him "I could ask you the same thing" Natsu pulled her arm behind her back and slammed her face on the wall "Do not… test me"

She scrunched her nose knowing her wrist had cracked and wondered what else had changed since she'd spoken to her master "Let's call it insurance, shall we?"

"What makes you think I won't kill whoever you chose along with the child?" A though bluff he thought to himself; even the words leaving his mouth left a sour taste behind "Like Grandfather like grandson… not above killing his progeny" he pushed her harshly and walked away rubbing his face.

"I… FUCK… THIS IS A FUCKING CHILD YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, A LIFE… NOT AN INSURANCE"

"Now you are concerned about a life? Please… spare me the lecture, will you?" She tried to hide the pain and turned with her best blank expression "First you act as if you were up for killing them and now a child is not insurance? You know… all of those out there are lives… and you don't seem to care about those so… I found a new insurance policy" He felt fire in the pit of his stomach, but he also knew his unrecovered body was about to give.

Helle stepped forward with an angry stare "You are whoring your own grandson… you're basically forcing him to sell his own body for a commitment he doesn't want, you've been forcing him to do what you want since day one"

Aporia snorted "Unlike you who didn't help on any of it? Please child… You're very dramatic, thousands of women have been sold to husbands for other's agendas, to breed heirs against their will and to serve a higher purpose, why should he be excused just because he is a man?"

"That's not the point!" Helle had tiers in her eyes "It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from of what you have between your damn legs God Dammit! This is wrong!"

Nephele fisted her hand and walked closer "Ria… that's enough" the black haired sorceress looked at her with a baffled expression, never had she been stopped by her friend before "This… is not fair to Natsu, and he would never end a child's life… you are forcing his hand"

"Unless he turns out like his grandfather, right?" Elle flinched, that had been a low blow "I mean his brother did turn out quite murderous… why would he be any different, sending one's children to their death seems to run in the family" The pinkette saw the pained expression on the nymph's face, his nature told him he should pull his less evil grandmother and comfort her… but he couldn't… not with everything at risk.

"That's enough Ria" Mal pulled Elle to his side "Natsu already committed to the guilds… you got your way now go away and be sure not to leave any more poison for us to drown in" she smirked very proud of herself and walked away to tend to her now swollen wrist.

Helle stared at his mother, the abandonment of her father was a pain they shared, and she wished she was as forgiving as to walk towards her "I'm very sorry this happened… I… she didn't listen" Natsu nodded "She usually doesn't" Elle gave him a little smile before retreating to her chambers, she needed to be alone for now to put her head in order.

They walked silently behind him all the way to his room, they closed the door and before they could say something Natsu raised his hand.

"Gray and Helle need the mark…" Mal nodded "Where should we put Mr. Fullbuster's?" Natsu let his weight fall on the bed before grunting "Good look finding a place he won't show… fucking stripper"

"If he can manage to keep his markings on… those would cover him" Gray nodded and made his magic recede to allow Mal to work and true to his word once he was finished and the markings were back, no one would be able to see it.

"How about Helle?" Natsu shook his head "She has her legs and stomach bare most of the time… so…" Natsu waved his hand asking him to hurry.

"Ahem… so…" Helle was blushing "I… h-how about on the side of my leg… c-close to my hip?" they both looked uncomfortable, but they nodded. They walked to the bathroom to avoid her from exposing herself in front of the other males and after a minute they came back, their faces redder than before.

"You're really not going to marry some fucked up evil chick, are you?" Gray was arching his eyebrow and scrunching his mouth "Not if it can be helped… nor am I passing the crazy-genes to the next generation… this dies with me and Zer…" there was an awkward silence before Grayed continue "I don't know man… I always imagine my kids would beat the shit out of yours"

Natsu snorted "Even if that had happened… my kids would definitely beat the shit out of yours ice-princess" Mal walked closer and sat on the bed "Having kids is not that bad, I'm pretty sure you would be ok"

"Oh, speaks the one with years of experience raising kids?" Mal rolled his eyes "I kind of helped raised your father and he turned out well"

"Yeah, he only had a son prone to losing his mind and murdering people and one with more destructive energy than brains… lots to look forward to" Natsu sighed, he suddenly felt that sharp pain on his side again and flinched.

"You ok man?" Gray gave him a concerned look and Natsu shook his head "Something's not right…"

"Understatement of the year…" The pinkette rolled his eyes "No… something's really not right… I can feel it" Mal bit his lip; he knew this was probably related to Lucy and wondered if he should just go to her and check but dawn was only a couple of hours away and Natsu needed them here.

"Why don't you try to get some rest… we'll wake you up in two hours or so and head to get Lucy and the rest" Natsu wasn't sure he would be able to but nodded either way "I'll stay here with him, why don't you guys get some rest… I mean… weird spiritual beings also sleep… right?"

The golden knight snorted "Something like that…" each went their way while Gray sat on a comfy, red velvet chair he had placed close enough to rest his feet on Natsu's bed "Go to sleep before I knock you out…"

"Shut it popsicle…"

* * *

Lucy was feeling the weight of her body; she had expected to feel tired but the level of exhaustion claiming every muscle was close to unbearable. The celestial mage had set herself on a task that she knew could very well end everything she loved, but at this point… doing nothing would do the same.

She had walked peacefully with the knights until they arrived to their camp where she was immediately pulled into a prisoners carriage, that had allowed her feet some rest, but even without the walking, she could feel her energy receding, almost trying to warn her.

She sat on the cold floor of the carriage holding her hands together almost in a prayer like way; was she being reasonable? No, she was well aware of that… her brain was working against itself, one side telling her that the logic she was using for this was wrong and would lead her to a certain death, telling her this is not what Natsu wanted when he sacrificed himself for them… but the other side had gone mad little by little starting the moment he was taken away.

That other side, ruled by passion, love and desperation, where logic was not welcomed because Natsu was evidence enough that lack of logic was sometimes exactly what you needed to defeat your enemies, that mere fire in your belly could do the trick if you were willing to take the risk and break your own boundaries… and she was, more than willing… for a second chance together as a family.

She wasn't sure how long it'd passed with her thoughts all over the place before the carriage stopped and she was let out of it; she recognized the sight…

It was an uncommon place, but a beautiful one no less; tall, rock hard mountains provided cover for miles, their light brown color also provided little coverage for anyone who dared to approach since any other color would stand out.

She was standing still with her hands restrained observing the peculiar place; A mansion like house laid in between two mountains as if hiding it from the world, its color almost blended with its surroundings.

The guard pulled on her shackles and when she turned to give him the stink eye she saw it… the shoreline at the end of the Phoenix mountains, so close, and yet so far… she had though they had driven for too long but it seemed she was closer to her friends than what she thought.

The soldier pushed her from behind to force her to walk and she obliged feeling she had little to no energy left in her body; she really did hope this worked, otherwise the only way she would see everyone again was in the afterlife.

She kept inspecting, trying to memorize every little detail of her surroundings, its wide double doors, the tall, thick windows and the stairs leading to her fate… but instead of going through them, she was led to the back of the house. Lucy assumed she would be blindfolded but maybe they just didn't think there was much she could do… or maybe they wanted her to see it thinking she would try to reach Natsu for help… what the true reason was, she didn't know.

They walked through a stone path on the side of the house until reaching the back, her eyes stung from the dirt the wind carried, she wished at least she could use her hands to protect her sore and dried eyes from it, but the clinging sound of metal reminded her she could do nothing at this point.

Lucy blinked a couple of times trying to focus her tired eyes once they stopped; right next to the back door almost hidden in plain sight by bushes there was a door on the floor; it required four guards to pull the heavy door open, and once it did she was led through several flights of stairs all separated by different metal doors, runes, and other magic security items.

It became harder to see the further they went; the first level had several lacrimas, but every level down had less and less until the point the guards had to get lacrimas out to light the way. She felt the cold seeping through her bones, the distinctive smell of mold and humidity penetrated her nose making her scrunch it in distaste.

Her legs were about to give… she knew it, the celestial mage felt as if it was harder to breath every time but she did her best to hide it from the guards, she didn't want to alert them about what she was going through. She walked passed a big cell and noticed several tiny forms crowded together, it was hard to see them because of the darkness but her mouth formed a thin line "Children?... you torture children? Monsters is what you are…"

"We hold dangerous criminals here Ms. Heartfilia, just like you"

"What crime could tiny children commit? Stealing a toy from daycare?"

"Fortunately, that is not of your concern" the guard pressed his hand against the cell and led her inside before closing it back "Get comfortable… I don't think you'll see the light of day anytime soon"

As soon as he left, Lucy inspected the cell; it had nothing but dark stone, no window, no way to get out… not that she would plan on it. There was no place to sleep other than the floor expect the stone rectangular table on the opposite end, she wondered what purpose it had there but her train of thought was interrupted by a tiny voice on the adjacent cell.

"Heartfilia? As in Lucy Heartfilia?" she walked closer to the wall joining both cells "You know… it's polite to introduce yourself before asking someone's name"

"I'm Miko… are you…" she heard him sniffle and her heart broke a bit "Are you Lucy?" the blond mage sat on the floor and rested her back on the wall "Lucy Heartfilia or Fairy Tail, nice to meet you"

She heard excited mumbling and whispering from the other cell and couldn't help but wonder how the kids knew about her; a second voice, softer than the first interrupting the mumbling "M-miss Lucy… c-can you tell us a story?"

It was sweet, she could hear in their voices they were pretty young and knowing they were here sharing her fate sadden her "What type of story would you like to hear?"

"We'd like to hear about your adventures with papa!" Lucy froze for a second, before Miko spoke "She means Natsu Dragneel, Miss Lucy, would you… would you tell us what he was like before?"

Lucy covered her lip to try to stop the tears from coming, these kids were the ones he was looking for, the ones she wanted to save and they were stuck here with no one to care for them… scared, lonely, hurt… if she didn't survive this no one would ever know they were there.

She took a deep breath "Of course I will… let me see… we have so many stories to tell! The time we met and emptied by account with his incredible appetite, or how he would constantly avoid using the door and climbed through my window even when I wasn't home!" she giggled "There are so many stories, what type of story would you like to hear?"

"Do you love him?" she rested her head on the wall and sighed "Very much…"

The voice of a little girl spoke then "Did you always know you loved him?" Lucy giggled again "Oh hell no… I always pictured myself falling in love with a well-educated, intelligent and romantic man, one of those characters in the books I liked reading"

"What changed?"

"I realized adventures with a dragon were more interesting that a life of boredom… anyway… how about those stories, uhm?" she started right at the beginning with the fake Salamander and the boat, how she'd ended up in the guild and their first mission together and went on and on until she heard soft snoring; she didn't know how long it'd been but she felt so tired that she fell asleep in the same spot she was leaning on.

* * *

Gray was dozing off when the bright light caught his attention, he blinked and rubbed his eyes until he was able to focus "Is it time?" Mal nodded "Almost morning, how's he doing?"

"Meh… he was able to sleep some but he seemed… I don't know, not at ease?" the golden knight nodded "That's usually the case"

"Can you two stop talking about me as if I could sleep through your chattering" Natsu rubbed his face and sighed; he slowly got up the bed and walked to the restroom without saying much else "He seems upset…" the pinkette yelled from the restroom "I can also hear you through the walls asshole…"

They shrugged and waited for him to come out, his face was still wet and some of his hair was too "Of course I'm upset… I am not looking forward to today"

"But you'll get to see Lucy" Natsu threw one of his pillows at Mal "Which is exactly what I don't want right now… it'll complicate things"

"Natsu…"

"Just… stop ok? I don't need to be injected with your good wishes and hopes, let's just get this done…" It didn't take long for Helle to join and soon they walked up to the roof. The Dragon slayer hadn't been able to remove the concern and uneasiness from the night before, either something was wrong or something was going to be wrong… he wasn't sure but deep in his soul the anxiety was eating him up.

"Ok, everyone ready?" Gray rubbed his face "It's going to feel like shit again, isn't it?" Mal nodded and smiled "At least now you know what to expect"

The knight took a moment to gather his energy and focus on where he wanted to go, the golden threads started weaving around forming a dome cage with leaf like pattern around them all and a second later, they were gone.

* * *

Gajeel had been walking for hours, his meeting hadn't provided much information but sufficient to determine two things, one that he kids Natsu was looking for were not in the jail built in the former tower of heaven, and two, either if there was no specific mention of him there was word that some of the major dark guilds had moved outside the known map of Fiore, they were not able to give a specific location but had mentioned sightings in a wooded area within the mountains way past Cait Shelter.

"So, what now?" Gajeel turned to Lily "Now we get something to eat… I'm starving"

"Always thinking about your stomach…"

"Right… so now we tell the rest what we know and go from there, first we…" he stopped and placed his hand on his chest "Everything ok?"

"Yeah…" he scratched the awkwardness away and kept walking; their camp was visible now. He walked to his tent, stretched his muscles and reached to pull the fabric when the scent hit his nose causing him to turn rapidly.

He placed himself protectively before the tent where Levy was sleeping despite of everything inside him telling him to back down… in the end, a dragon's instinct wouldn't allow him to attach the nest's king…

"Salamander…" The name came out much like a growl and in response a rumble from Natsu's own throat cause him to flinch but he stood his ground. It took a second more for Wendy to emerge from her tent, she'd sense him too "Natsu!" she was about to run to him but stopped once she took a look at his cold eyes.

Gray stepped forward "Woaah, hold on… it's ok"

"Gray!" This time Wendy did run and hugged him "We thought…" he ruffled her hair "We need to talk, where's Lucy?"

Natsu gasped "She's not here" the ice mage turned to his friend and noticed his confused expression but before they could inquire, he took a run to the forest in a speed that would be almost impossible for them to match, even for the Dragon Slayers.

The pinkette felt his heart sinking, that feeling of something off was getting stronger by the second. In camp, the scent of Lucy was faint, and he knew that meant she had been gone for hours now. He ran too fast, even for his standards, to the point where he felt his legs would simply fall off. The branches and leaves hit his skin and opened tiny cuts but he couldn't feel them.

Her scent was a bit stronger as he got closer but not strong enough to indicate a living presence and he feared the worse, it didn't take long to get to the clearing and find what she'd let behind… the necklace, her ring and a ribbon.

With shaky fingers he pulled it from the branch and got it closer to his nose, it smelled like her and it stirred something inside him, longing, need, possessiveness and so much concern. Natsu kept the ribbon on his nose and fell to his knees before slamming the floor with both fists and roaring.

The rest of the team had been trying to catch up when they heard him, it was a roar so strong that they had to cover his ears.

"No…" they turn to Wendy who had now her hands covering her mouth, a few tiers forming on her face "What's wrong?" Gray got closer and held the bluenette by her arms, but she just shook her head.

"We need to move…" Juvia got closer to her friend with a concerned face "What is it Gajeel?"

"Something ain't right… that's not a roar but a cry to the nest…" they moved faster now, not only worried about Natsu but Lucy too and when they reached the place their friend was still kneeling on the floor.

The circles of threes around him were scorched, and the soil darkened, every bird had flown away when sensing his presence leaving nothing behind.

"Natsu…" Mal took a couple steps closer but the pinkette stood up, still with his back towards them "She's gone, her trail stops here" he finally turned around, trying to hold all his contradicting emotions in check, but the only thing the knight could focus on was the items on Natsu's hands "We need to find her"

The dragon slayer sensed the change in Mal's tone and the sense of uneasiness inside him grew "What is it?" he sighed and braced himself "I told her she couldn't remove the necklace… it was the one thing keeping her energy in check" the silence was deafening, he gulped and took a deep breath "We don't have much time, she needed that… we need to find her now Natsu… whatever time I thought she had could now be very well cut in half… if we are lucky"

Natsu stomped his way towards him and punched him in the face with all his strength literally pulling him from the floor and breaking a few threes on his way "Natsu! Stop this right now!" Erza's words fell on deaf ears as the pinkette pulled Mal up from the collar "You… should have told me the truth since the start"

"I know…" Mal grabbed Natsu's wrist, he didn't blame him for being upset "If you had told me she was in danger…"

"I know…" Natsu loosened his grip on the knight's collar, his arms going limp on each side. The celestial spirit grabbed his master's shoulder with one hand and placed the other on his cheek "I'll find her, ok? I promise I'll make sure she's fine"

He felt a someone pressing against his back and long arms wrapping around him until a pair of hands was laying on his stomach "Idiot…" Erza tightened her grip on his middle "Are you done lying?"

"Probably not…" He felt her tiers on his back and it hurt "You once told me I would be punished for making her cry, do you remember?" Natsu looked from the corner on is eye and saw the blue haired man with the red tattoo smirking at him.

How could he not remember? It was a fitting memory… Jellal was still being controlled and was trying to complete the tower when he had said those words to him, he had promised him a world of pain for making his friend cry, and now… now he was doing the same. It was out of mere instinct that his hand ended up above Erza's.

They wouldn't buy the lie he'd prepare now; he had expected to pretend with them too… to make them believe whatever connection he had with Lucy was gone forever but the moment he realized she was gone every single one of his priorities shifted, and it scared him to the core… what would happen if he actually got to see her again? Not if… when, when he saw her again; whatever happened he knew he couldn't let her die because as long as she lived he would be ok with dying, as long as her brightness was kept in the world then it would all be worth it.

"I'm sorry to cut this short but we need to head back and make a plan to find her"

"Head back? You just got here!" Natsu turned to Wendy with a pained expression "He means all of us… you guys are coming with.

It didn't take too long for them to gather their belongings and be warned about the horrible feeling they would experience while passing thought the realms, and once they were done, they gathered together and Mal formed the same dome cage with a leaf shape patters around them.

* * *

Lucy woke up to the sound of steps on the hall, her arms were wrapped around herself to keep the cold away. She heard the kids whimpering while one of them whispered 'It's ok… we need to be brave' to the rest of them and she couldn't help but fear of what was coming their way.


	38. Chapter 38

**Sorry I took longer to update, after 4 long years I finally got a regular bday lol (Feb 29th) and there was some things to plan and attend, I really didn't want to submit half a chapter which is why I waited a bit longer.**

 **Also, too many quotes seem to strike home with the chapters so! we have 2 quotes today. We are getting closer to another "OH FUCK" moment kiddos! Hang in there.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"One of the first signs of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die. This life appears unbearable, another unattainable. One is no longer ashamed of wanting to die; one asks to be moved from the old cell, which one hates, to a new one, which one willl only in time come to hate. In this there is also a residue of belief that during the move the master will chance to come along the corridor, look at the prisoner and say: "This man is not to be locked up again, He is to come with me."**  
 **― Franz Kafka, Blue Octavo Notebooks**

 **"We pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded. We are permitted merely to sense and guess at what we are actually experiencing. Only later when the cloth is untied can we glance at the past and find out what we have experienced and what meaning it has."**  
 **― Milan Kundera, Laughable Loves**

* * *

 **Previously:**

Lucy woke up to the sound of steps on the hall, her arms were wrapped around herself to keep the cold away. She heard the kids whimpering while one of them whispered 'It's ok… we need to be brave' to the rest of them and she couldn't help but fear of what was coming their way.

* * *

Far away from where Natsu had found Lucy's belongings, Fairy Tail had set camp; it had been easier without having to fend the council knights who were very clearly tracking Lucy but still the sense of uneasiness for leaving they valuable friends behind lingered on them.

The guild was way passed the mountains when the pair of exhausted exceeds found them, barely making it there at dawn. The tiny forms flopped on the ground and tried to calm their breathing.

Happy was laying above his green backpack looking at the changing sky above, almost heaving when his partner's voice made it to his ears "We… made… it" Carla's flushed white fury face scrunched while trying to get her words out, she looked at Happy noticing he was in no better shape than her "Aye… now… what?"

She sat up and stretched before taking a big breath "Silly Tomcat… now we look for our friends" Happy stretched on the ground trying to pop every tiny bone on his body without much luck, and then sat up as well "Ugh… Aye…"

They walked closer and it was no surprise to find Cana sitting next to a heating lacrima outside, still drinking her weight in alcohol "OI! Look what we've got here!"

"Greetings Cana, just checking in; the guys wanted to know how you were holding up" she laughed loudly and took a gulp from her drink "All good kitty cat! Same old escaping the pricks from hell, how 'bout you and the rest?"

"So… nothing new, no attacks, arrivals… nothing at all?"

"Not at all missy… we're all peachy" Cana gave them a suspicious stare, knowing there was no way they'd flown this far only to check up on them but she didn't have an opportunity to ask; It was in that moment when they heard frantic movement coming from one of the tents followed by Mira's voice "Laxus!" the tent moved from side to side until a large hand pulled the fabric revealing Laxus gasping for air before falling on his knees.

"Laxus! Breath!" his eyes were wide open; his hands squeezed the soil under them while electricity sparked intermittently on his skin; Mira reached out to him but he raised his hand "Don't…" she retracted her hand still watching his pained expression, trying to understand what had startled him "What… the fucking… hell?"

"Woah… bad dream sparky? Don't think electrocuting Mira here counts as foreplay, you know?"

Laxus snarled at Cana and sat while grabbing his forehead with his left hand while his right one was placed above his heart "I…" his eyes were unable to focus in one place, trying to figure out what was that pressure on his chest… it felt like emptiness had occupied every corner of his heart, like if suddenly all the oxygen was sucked out of his lungs before the extreme heat burnt him from inside out… pain… that's all he could feel, but not in himself, it was almost as if he could see its shape forming before his eyes but not quite.

It transported his mind to a time where he knew nothing but loneliness, where there was no joy in his life and everything had lost its meaning… food had no taste, colors had lost its brightness and human touch was cold and unwanted… it pained and confused him because he knew he didn't feel that way anymore… so… Why?

He was dripping in sweat, still sitting on the floor on nothing but his boxers but the electricity had stopped, Mira knelt next to him and pressed her hand on his back; he loved and hated the feeling at the same time… her hand reminded him he was not alone nor unwanted but for some reason it also made him feel bad about him having everything in his life.

It didn't take long for the rest of the guild to come out to see what the commotion was all about.

"Laxus?" He looked at his grandfather's concerned face; the old man immediately noticed something in his eyes; a flicker of gold that wasn't there before, something so small that it would have been unnoticeable in the full light of day for most, but not for him... Makarov knew his grandson too well and not a hair on his head would move without him noticing the change.

It wasn't the only thing he saw there… there was something deeper that he had seen before in those eyes many years ago… desperation, lost, heartbreak, neither of them was a stranger to those but these seemed even more intense now, almost desperate and agonizing.

"I need a minute…" he tried to normalize his breathing and closed his eyes focusing on everything around and inside of him until he reached the small core of the heath he felt burning his heart; the blond man did his best to dissect that feeling and after a couple of minutes he grunted and stood up without saying a word to the rest, and got inside his tent.

"Ok, someone's in a bad mood" Makarov shook his head "That's not it... something's wrong"

"Sorry to break it to you gramps, but things haven't been right for some time now" Makarov sighed and shook his head "Cana… are you sober enough to check your cards?"

"HA I do better readings when I'm drunk gramps, come on… give me some credit" she opened her bag and pulled her reading cards and in a couple of seconds she was shuffling her deck like the master she was; it was so perfect that it resembled a dance; her cards went from her right hand to her left and then back before she slammed them on the floor and spread them with a proud smile.

Her hand reached out to pull the first couple cards and order them in a way that it only made sense for her and when Makarov saw her frown, he immediately worried; whatever Cana saw made her sober up in seconds.

"Nope…"

"Cana?"

"Quiet…" she rubbed her chin and whispered to herself "3 cards won't do…" she pulled the cards together and placed them on her forehead; the card mage bit her lip thinking hard of the question she wanted to ask, it wasn't a specific easy one, but a wide general one and she knew this wouldn't work the same way it did when she predicted Natsu's change without understanding.

She decided then to go off the books… 3 or 5 wouldn't do, so, she would draw as many cards as possible until it didn't make sense anymore and stop there. After a couple of minutes, she rubbed her temples "This isn't good… fuck"

"CANA! Get it together" she took a deep breath and shook her head "You're right gramps, something ain't right… see these?" Makarov sat next to her along with Mira to observe closely.

She didn't point in any order in particular, but she did it in the way she considered the easiest to explain "These all change their meaning depending on if they are upright or reverse, cards tell a story and it's all up to interpretation… but…"

"But?" Makarov held her hand and noticed she was shaking "These seem pretty clear gramps… self-hatred, fear, disaster, lack of balance, sacrifice, isolation, aggression, partnership, and then these two" she pointed at the emperor and empress cards "These are figures of authority, structure or nourishing depending on how they are read"

"Are we talking about Natsu and Lucy again?"

"I don't think we could be talking about anyone else at this point..."

In that moment one of the cards she had left long ago for allies started ringing, she picked it up and arched her eyebrow before responding "Sting? You do know you are not supposed to be calling us, right?"

"Where's Gajeel?!" Cana clicked her tongue "Hello to you too handsome"

"Gajeel! Now!" the card mage huffed and rolled her eyes "Gajeel's not here"

"Where the fuck is he?"

It was in that moment that Laxus came out of the tent, fully dressed and with a backpack; he took the card from Cana's hands "They stayed behind, blondie was being traced… Did you notice?" there was a silence on the line before Rogue's voice was heard "We did… it was…"

"Devastating…" Sting's worried voice came through "It was him I know it was! I felt the bastard burning me" Laxus stared at the ground for a second and grunted "I'm going to find him"

"Are you stupid!?"

"We have no choice asshole"

"And what exactly do you expect me to do? I am the guild master! S'not like I can pack up and leave!" Laxus' voice became deep and loud "I'd like to see you stopping your feet from moving by themselves! Let's see how long you are able to hold it off!" he cut the communication before throwing the card in Cana's face and rearranged his backpack.

"What's happening?" Mira took his arm and pulled it lightly "I'm leaving, you need to keep moving…"

"Then I'm going with you!" he pushed her away, not hard enough to harm her but to put some distance between them "No, you're not… you're staying here and keeping our family safe in my place MiraJane, the guild needs you"

"Well I need you!" Laxus grunted and rubbed his face "Just do as I say for once woman!"

"Where in Mavis' name do you think you are going?" Makarov stood in front of his grandson with arms above his chest "I… don't know really" the old man sighed and shook his head "I can't explain but I'll get there" he immediately turned to look at his team getting ready to leave "You three are staying too, to make sure everyone's safe"

"But Laxus!"

"Don't argue with me Freed… MiraJane is stubborn and I trust you'll keep an eye on her for me"

"CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Happy was shaking his paws above his head "There's something wrong with Natsu… I don't know what or why, but we need to go to him now before it's too late"

Happy closed his eyes, trying his best to hold the tears threatening to fall "But we don't know where he is" Laxus smirked at the blue cat and shrugged "I'll find him, I may need some help to get there faster if you two would like to help, not all of us can have a freaking magic cat"

"I won't be going anywhere without Wendy" Carla raised her nose and looked to the side avoiding the Slayer's stare "Cat… I can assure you she is no longer where you left her, I ain't a real dragon slayer and I know I need to be there, how do you think she feels?"

The white exceed sighed… he was right, Wendy would go wherever her team went and it was very unlikely that Gajeel and her hadn't been pulled by whatever was compelling Laxus to move. The blond man turned around and nodded to his family in an attempt to calm their nerves, but none of them would stop worrying or wondering about the fate of their friends.

* * *

The mages observed the magical looking pattern of leaves surrounding them with awe, but all the amazing golden lights around them couldn't take their minds away from the feeling of uneasiness that was left while looking at Natsu.

His friends thought he would break down, something very similar to apocalypse crossed their minds, they thought he would destroy everything around him and lose himself but instead he simply stood, snapped a bit and got back into his hard shell; he didn't make eye contact with them, he avoided touching them, even speaking directly at them and it was as if he was… simply not himself.

The man standing with them was not the one they once knew; the once joyful energetic teen who made them all laugh with his silliness and ability to get into the most ridiculous situations, the one who would take on whatever weight they had on their backs and stood up victorious with a smile plastered on his face after a battle that would have crushed anyone else's spirits was very obviously gone, and had left in place a man that seemed to have lost too much.

Erza wondered if this was partially their fault; have they relied on his carefree personality too much? How many times had they all felt relieved when seeing him approach the fight because in the end, whether they wanted to admit it or not… he would always find a way. Natsu had said once that he would never let what happen to Lisanna happen again… Fairy tail would never lose one single member of their family and he had lived up to his word, but how much responsibility had they placed on him without knowing?

The non-Dragon Slayers were even more concerned now because of the slayers behavior, they seemed to sense something they couldn't and even while gathering their things, their eyes seemed to be stuck on Natsu, following his every move and from time to time even following him around; Gajeel had tried to act normally although everyone could tell there was something inside him that he couldn't control, and Wendy had even made a tiny noise from the back of her throat that sounded almost whimper-like when Natsu walked closer to her.

It didn't take long for them to be transported to the roof of the castle; Natsu was standing as if it was nothing since now he was a bit more used to it and because he was still so shocked that his body simply didn't register the physical strain of being pulled through the realms… the rest of the team however was a different story.

They collapsed on the ground, heaving and about to faint due to the awful feeling this type of transportation provided "This… is worse… than riding a train…" Gajeel almost puked but contained himself.

"Oh… Mavis… is this how you guys feel… when we force you into transportation?" Erza was lying on her back looking at the morning sky "Ugh… pretty much" Wendy was the first one to sit up, and she had never been more thankful for her skill to recover.

"Never again… we are walking… to every mission… starting today, why didn't you tell us it was this bad!" Gajeel looked at the red headed woman and frowned "WE DID"

Erza sat up, her eyes immediately finding Natsu sitting on the ledge "Hey… are you ok?" his voice came out emotionless and distant "I'm fine, get your shit together before you meet the family, you don't seem very threatening now Titania" there were many arched eyebrows and questions to be asked, but Gray shook his head silently asking them to wait.

"Where are we?" Levy asked while rubbing her head "Welcome to the belly of the beast… home of the dark guilds" they all looked at Natsu not sensing if he was trying to be funny or not before looking down and noticing the rather large camps on the sides of the castle.

"Oh shit…" Mal waved his hand "Nothing to worry about ladies and gentlemen, the guilds have been made aware of the fact that you will be staying with us for the time being, you just need to pretend, as Gray did" Levy huffed and crossed her arms above her chest "What makes you believe they will even listen to that? I find rather hard to believe they won't try to attack us"

"They won't go against the wishes of their king Miss McGarden" Natsu scrunched his nose and sighed "Their Prince… not their king" Gajeel snorted and rested his weight on his hands "What? Are they waiting to anoint you with the blood of the enemies or something?"

Mal widen his eyes and waved with his hand quickly, in a silent plea for them to change topics which Erza immediately noticed; she pointed at the icemake mage "Anyway… What happened to you?" Gray gave an apologetic look, but he turned to Natsu first; the slayer wasn't looking at him but sighed and nodded "I got kidnapped by Natsu's weird friend to help them out… Ashbrains wasn't… ehm… doing too well"

"Why?" Gray rubbed his forehead "He… well…"

"My magic went off, it has something to do with Lucy's and what happened to her the day I left, that's the only reason I went back" She didn't buy it, none of them did and he sensed it but pushed forward.

"Natsu"

"We are pulling on each other's magic and unless she is here one or both of us could die, so, we need to find her. I can't have this derailing my plans"

"You don't have to lie to us" he clicked his tongue and turned to her, his eyes blinking in between their regular color and amber "I don't need to explain myself to any of you, I was only planning on bringing her back to keep myself alive, that's it" he stood up and walked inside.

Mal sighed and shook his head "Just… join us once you feel better, ok? You'll need to prepare your best battle face" he walked after Natsu while Helle stayed behind to keep an eye on them.

* * *

With every hard step Lucy's heart clenched, she could barely see no matter how hard she pushed her face on the bars, there wasn't much she could do. She pushed her arm through her bars and stretched as much as she could to reach the bars on the kids' cell, it was far, too far she though until she felt small fingertips brushing hers.

Her brown eyes filled with tears when she felt the soft skin brushing over hers, so close and yet too far for her to help. The screeching sound of the jail cell door made her heart skip a beat and suddenly she felt the fingertips receding and a heard a grunt "Put me down one eye freak!"

"Oh boy, I'm going to enjoy making you cry like a baby" she knew now that was Miko's voice, even if she didn't know their faces, she had heard him and the other kids… but she also recognize the voice speaking to them and it sent a shiver so deep into her core that her breath hitched "A-rlo…"

"Stop kicking boy! That won't do you any good!"

"ARLO LET HIM GO, RIGHT NOW!" when there was no sound, she knew she had gotten his attention "And who… do we have here? I can't believe my luck!"

"Let the kids be! They have nothing to do with this!"

"But they do… they've been proudly introducing themselves as Dragneels, and since fake daddy isn't here to pay… they will"

"STOP!" she stood up and walked to the door, pushing and pulling with all her strength without any luck, but when Miko's scream reached her ears she fell on her knees and sobbed "Stop… please stop…"

"Where is he!?" the kids yelled frantically at their friend but Calei's voice was louder than the rest "We told you! We don't know!"

Arlo pulled Miko and laid him on his belly, wrapping the chains to the bottom of the rock bed just as he'd done with the rest "You look up to him… don't you? Want to be just like your fake demon-daddy?" the kid was scrunching his nose, determined to not make a single sound despite of what came his way.

"Very well then, let's make you just like him" He extended a piece of fabric above the kids's back and inspected the knives until he found the one he was looking for. It was a sharp, thin knife with a black handle "This one has a very special meaning for you and me, you know?" he rolled the fabric back and moved it to the end of the table, close to Miko's feet.

"This one made your dear daddy whimper like a bitch; turns out he wasn't as strong as he pretended to be, and I bet you ain't either"

Lucy pushed harder against her cell, trying as hard as she could to fit her face in between the bars to no avail and wishing she could transform into water or make herself as tiny as a mouse just to be able to get to them "Hey! I'm talking to you!" she could hear the kids crying and screaming and she didn't know how long her heart could take.

"It's ok guys… it'll all be ok" Arlo laughed at Miko's statement and got his face so close to his ear that he could feel his warm, moist breath on him "Nothing will ever be ok for you, you can lie to them all you want but in the end none of you will get out of here alive, I'll make sure of it"

Miko smirked, despite of the position he found himself in "You know... pops will find you and once he does you're going to regret this"

Arlo used his index finger to trace the kid's ribs until he got to the fifth one on his left side where the kid's arm would normally fall "I'm going to enjoy breaking you just as much as I enjoyed breaking him" He stretched his hand to poke the young skin with his knife causing blood to trickle on the table. Miko bit his lip and closed his eyes in reaction to the pain "Oh! What am I thinking… you wanted to be just like dear daddy right? It's only fair for you to experience it exactly as he did".

As the knife moved, Miko felt almost as if he was being stabbed through muscle and bone and couldn't help but yell in pain; it got worse by the second and he didn't know how long he was going to be able to handle it. His lungs were burning but he didn't know if it was from screaming too hard or because he was actually dying, he thought he could at any moment.

Lucy screamed as hard as she could knowing it would make little to no difference "Fucking bastard! Mess with someone your size asshole!"

"Such a filthy mouth from an heir…"

Miko's breathing was ragged; when he thought they were finally over, Arlo proceeded to complete his job, just like he'd done with Natsu. The monster holding them captured switched the position of the knife with its edge facing down and started removing the large skin patch within his drawing and Miko couldn't take it anymore; he barfed on the table out of pain and screamed even harder than before.

His scream was devastating for everyone and Lucy couldn't help the tears from damping her face; he was just a kid… but even if he wasn't, this wouldn't have been fair. Her mind played images of her fingers brushing Natsu's scars softly while he flinched and closed his eyes and she knew… this was what had happened to him… it was happening again, and she was still powerless and incapable of stopping it.

The idea of Natsu going through that exact thing sent shivers down her spine… had he screamed like that? Had he tried to free himself, had he lost himself inside his mind to try to cope with the pain?...

Miko kept screaming, shattering whatever hope was left in their hearts until the only thing they could do was cover their ears. The kids felt useless, weak, and pathetic. At some point the screaming stopped; Miko was lying on the table, unmoving whit a bloody ankh like symbol carved into his skin.

"Tsk… at least the asshole did stay awake until I finished, it ain't fun if your lights are out" he pulled the chain off the table and threw him in the corner where his friends immediately pulled him into a protective hold. Arlo left the cell and walked to Lucy's; he opened the door and stood in front of her before grabbing her from her jaw in a bruising way and slamming her head against the wall.

"You're no more than something for me to have fun with until your dirty demon arrives" she gave him an angry glare "He will kill you" the celestial mage spat on his face with as much hate as she could.

He brushed the spit with his left hand before getting his face on the point where her shoulder met her neck; he smelled her skin and hummed and not a second later she felt Arlo's big, slimy tongue touch her and lick from that point to the back of her ear causing her to flinch "I can see why he liked you… I'll enjoy killing the fire in your eyes" he placed his mouth right next to her ear "You'll be nothing but an empty shell when he finds you" she was unceremoniously dropped on the floor where she used her sleeve to clean herself up, but no matter how many times she did, the feeling on his filthy tongue on her skin wouldn't go away.

* * *

Natsu walked to his bedroom and locked the door before sliding to the floor; his anxiety was attacking him again leaving a hollow sensation in his chest and he didn't know how long he would be able to stand it.

Instinctively his hand went to the back of his neck and scratched, he couldn't stop… it was almost as if his own skin was attacking him and he just wanted to get rid of the feeling once and for all, but he couldn't. The scratching didn't stop until he felt blood under his nails.

It was too much… that itching was something only she had been able to take away and he didn't know how she did it… the smell of her skin, her smile, her eyes filled with joy or the sweet sound of her voice, her taste or her shinny hair that could have put stars to shame… he didn't want to love her anymore, but not loving her would be equally bad…

He had to find her whatever the cost, and that was even worse because once he did he would need to push her away and that itching would be even worse because having her close and not touching her was too much of a punishment.

There was one more thing he worried about, not as much as he worried for Lucy but it was still a constant in his mind; his body missed her, wanted her with so much strength that he thought not even physically punishing himself would stop him from wanting her; the part of his soul that was still there, loved her with the fire of hell itself but… what about the hollow portion of his soul? What if he couldn't contain himself from kissing her and tasting her skin, what if she allowed him to… only to realize that he could somehow love her but not really… not entirely…

The pinkette felt like a true monster… because that is what evil did, be selfish and look after its own needs, take what they want and leave nothing behind no matter who suffered the consequences of their actions and he told himself… if he harmed her he would harm himself in such a way that he would make sure to regret it, it was a commitment from one of his sides to the other.

"I am really going mad aren't I…" he rested his head on the door "Making treats and promises to myself… as if I was two people… fuck, I shouldn't be surprised, should I?" he shook his head and stood up walking to the bathroom.

He opened the water tab as hot as he could to fill the tub and inspected himself in the mirror… he kind of looked the same, just his eyes were now darker, more lost even… but he really didn't recognize himself. Natsu checked the water temperature and sighed, he would have preferred scorching water to remove the stench of himself from his skin but even the hottest volcano wouldn't do that for him now.

He removed his clothes, threw them on the floor and sat inside the tub warming the water with his magic; something wasn't right… he felt it deep inside and the itchiness was still there. The Dragon Slayer went under water and cleaned his neck with the now boiling water, but nothing changed.

His head went above water and noticed he was no longer by himself "I locked the door for a reason…"

"I'm sure you did… when have I cared for your reasons to do such things?" Mal smiled at him, knelt on the floor and grabbed a sponge "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shook his head "Helping my friend take care of himself"

"Not your friend… you've lied one too many times… also I am more than capable of taking care of myself" Mal snorted, he chewed the inside of his cheek and nodded "lied I have… I won't deny it; I still consider you a friend" he couldn't help the tiny pain in his chest at his words "You're just like your father… problematic, impulsive, idiotic at times… trying to take everything on by himself and not asking for help"

He pushed his face a bit under water leaving only his nose and eyes outside "Pretend all you want Natsu… you're not fooling anyone" he didn't say anything although he did pull himself out of the water that now reached below his shoulders and allowed Mal to keep running the sponge on the tiny bits of exposed skin "These are your friends, your family… Every time one of them has stepped away you've brought them back, every time they've fallen you've been there to catch them… every time they've cried…" he looked up and saw the look on the spirit's face and what seemed as unshed tiers "I've put you in great danger… and I'm sorry for that" Mal dropped the sponge and looked up trying to pull the tears back inside "I failed your father and Igneel and now I'm failing you too, but you can't let this pull your family apart"

It wasn't that he didn't know pretending was off the table, they have seen him react to Lucy's disappearance and playing as "leftover instinct" would do him no good, if there was ever a test to fooling the people that knows you the most he would definitely fail.

"For someone telling me I don't need to carry all the weight on my shoulders you are pretty bad at it yourself…" Mal snorted and shook his head "I think that's been clear for a long time now, one of the things you and I have in common"

Natsu got out of the tub and dried himself off before going back to his room and dropping his weight on the bed "Tell the evil witch everyone is eating inside today… we need to establish the guys' position here" Mal nodded and left the room without saying anything else; he knew tensions would arise but hoped things would work out.

* * *

As soon as Laxus' cut the communication, Sting threw the card on the table and yelled in frustration "FUCKING LIGHTNING BASTARD!"

"Well what were you expecting?" Rogue arched his eyebrow and crossed his arms above his chest "Look, I really think we should…"

"What?! Leave? Are you stupid?" Sting slammed his hands on the table causing his glass to spill "He humiliated us! He made us kneel, he made you and I fight each other!"

"I know…"

"He doesn't care for the consequences of his actions anymore and you want to go and help him cure whatever injury he's licking away in his fucking dark fortress?!"

"Sting… we don't know what that was about, Lucy was hurt… she was…"

"Do you think I don't know?!" the light Dragon slayer covered his face "I saw it… I saw him losing himself to that pain but what he is now…"

"He could have killed us, he's still the person that has come to our help when we've called Sting… he's still the same who saved us countless times and he is now our…"

"Don't…"

"Leader… the leader of our nest; we should go to him… you know Natsu and he would never ask for help if he didn't need to" Sting was about to reply when he was unceremoniously slapped on the back of his head.

"You are being an idiot…" Minerva was rolling her eyes while Yukino simply bit her lip "Is not like we won't survive without you here; you just eat all our food and call yourself the boss…"

"OI!" Yukino walked and pulled Sting out of his chair "Go"

"B-but Yuki!" she shook her head "He is our friend… Lucy too and if they need you and you don't answer their call then you are not the Sting we know" It was like a bucket of cold water, but he knew she was right. He was no stranger to desperation and what he'd felt before had been one of the most horrible feelings he'd experienced in his life.

"FINE… Rogue… call Fro and Lector… we leave as soon as we finish packing"

* * *

It wasn't a sleepless nap as he'd expected; as soon as Natsu drifted away his mind was filled with Lucy's crying face.

 _He saw her standing in the distance hugging herself, a golden light surrounded her entirely while she looked at him through the corner of her eye and then from one moment to the next her face scrunched in pain while the energy changed to a dark red flame starting from the ground and slowly moving up._

 _"No... why, why is my magic hurting her?" she seemed so fragile and he couldn't help his heart from hurting at the sight of her_ _"L-Luce…" black thick tears fell from her eyes and stained her porcelain cheeks before falling on her sky blue blouse, her once caramel brown eyes were losing their light little by little and the pain was evident… she hugged her middle section and yelled but he couldn't hear her. Natsu tried to run to her but no matter how fast he moved, the distance between them seemed to increase with every step he took._

 _"LUCE!" he ran faster and suddenly stopped and took a step back, it was then when he noticed… with every step he took back she got closer to him. It was too much for his head to grasp and he fell on the ground kneeling and sobbing once more for the answer he couldn't get._

 _It was then when Lucy took a step forward, then another one and one after that and he simply observed while holding his breath. She was standing no more than a couple steps away from him now and her lips were moving but no sound would come out._

 _"I can't hear you…"_

He was tumbling in bed, grunting and sweating while mumbling something incoherent when tiny fast steps echoed from the corridor outside of his room, but he was too lost inside his head to notice. Wendy opened the now unlocked door and looked inside; the temperature of the room was higher than normal, and she worried for her friend…

She had felt his distress, and for some reason the silent scream of anguish had resonated in the deepest corner of her mind causing her to make her way there. It didn't take long for her to be pushed inside the room.

"Well don't just stand there…" Gajeel was scrunching his nose, he walked passed her and stared at Natsu before sighing and sitting on the floor next to the bed, laying his back on the side of the mattress "Swear to Mavis… this punk is going to drive us crazy…"

She walked to the bed and climbed up before sitting next to his sleeping form; for a tiny second his breathing calmed down almost as if their presence was suiting "He's suffering so much… why didn't we know?"

"Don't know… cause he's an idiot…"

"Gajeel…" he grunted "Well he is… how else do you think he ended up in this situation? Excess of brains? Jeez…"

 _Natsu kept staring at Lucy's lips, trying to make sense of her words to no avail when she stretched her hands and finally placed them on the sides of his face; he reached out and was about to touch her when he saw his hands becoming dark sharp claws and pulled them back._

 _The blond celestial mage looked at him and smiled; the dark lines where tears had fallen still marked her face and seemed to have left burning marks behind, but it was as if she didn't notice. Lucy leaned closer and pressed her lips against his first sweetly but as it built up he felt something crawling inside all the way from his chest to his throat._

 _His eyes widened and he realized he couldn't breath anymore; his skin was now covered in red and black marks that pulsated with every movement of her lips, and every stroke of her tongue and even if he knew whatever was happening was taking precious energy from him… he couldn't force himself to stop._

"S-something's wrong"

"Of course it is…" Gajeel was resting his head on the bed and had his eyes closed, he was quick to disregard the comment as he always had with everything that didn't come from his own mouth "GAJEEL!"

"WHAT!?"

"He's not breathing!"

The iron slayer turned quickly and observed his friend's unmoving chest before getting closer and noticing she was right "Fuck!" he stood up and held Natsu by the shoulders before shaking him "Fucking Salamander!" he slammed a fist on the pinkette's chest and a second later Mal appeared in the room "What the hell happened!"

 _Natsu felt his heartbeat slowing down, but it wasn't scary at all… it was almost like a wave of calm finally claiming him and that was better than oxygen; he pulled Lucy closer and she almost melted into the kiss when she seemed to notice something wasn't right and tried to push him away but he wouldn't have it._

 _He wrapped one of his arms on her back while his other hand rested on the back of her head. Lucy's hands landed on his chest softly when he felt something damping his face… the black thick tears were falling again, this time soaking his face and he pulled away for a second._

 _Her lips moved again but he was still not able to hear her, she pointed at his chest and what he saw finally made him gasp, finally taking one long breath. There was a pair of hand prints on his side, blue soft energy shinning on his bare skin and on his chest a pair of visibly bigger black hand prints which despite the dark color still shone._

 _Natsu felt a soft stroke on his forehead, but it wasn't the blond goddess touching him; a dark blue hand print was next, followed by one golden and one red which now covered his torso._

 _"No…" he looked at Lucy and tried to grab her again but she shook her head and smiled through the dark liquid falling from her face; he focused on her lips again trying to figure her words out when through the fog he heard his name being called on._

"NATSU!"

He opened his eyes and sat quickly while trying to catch his breath "Can you stop fucking doing that?!" he turned to Gray giving him a confused look and the ice-mage mage could see this was just Natsu and not the darker version of himself "If you try to die on us one more time, I swear to god I'm going to kill you!"

"That didn't make much sense…"

"LEVY WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON?!" she frowned "I was just saying…"

Natsu was still too out of himself to respond, but his shaky fingers immediately reached his lips, brushing them slightly; he could still feel her… her natural scent and her taste still surrounded him dulling the rest of his senses.

"I… she… what…" he covered his face and noticed it was damp, he brushed the back of his hand to clean himself up and noticed… the black liquid from his dream was now staining his hands and this just confused him even more; this hadn't been an ordinary dream.

"You saw her, didn't you?" Natsu gulped and nodded without looking at Mal "Did she say something to you?" he opened his mouth to speak but closed it immediately along with his eyes trying to focus "She tried… I… her lips were moving but I couldn't… I don't know what she said"

"We'll figure it out later… now you need to clean yourself up and get ready… It's showtime…" Natsu sighed, he still felt a bit dizzy and when he tried to stand up he faltered and almost fell when a pair of soft arms wrapped themselves around him.

"Take it easy, ok?" He would never say it openly… but having Erza's arms holding him felt nice, almost reassuring in his current state as if just by her being there with him things would somehow work out. Natsu just nodded and walked to the bathroom again to wash his face.

"Mal, get me some clothes please" Mal snorted "Wow… I get a "please" this time, you guys' presence is making a difference already"

"Shut it before I burn your hair off" the golden knight walked toward the closet and opened the doors to inspect "Hmm… something to suit the occasion…" Jellal walked closer and cleared his throat "Shouldn't we be a bit more concerned about what just happened than about what he is going to wear? Maybe he should rest a bit?"

"I know what happened… and he does too and the only way to fix it is moving as fast as we can" He pulled a blood red leather vest and a pair of black pants and laid them on the bed and a couple seconds later Natsu was there.

Gajeel snorted "The outfit's a bit dramatic… don't ya think?" Natsu scrunched his nose "Says the one with a metal and black leather fetish…" it was a small exchange that for some reason reminded them of what they used to be and caused the tiniest of smiles on both slayer's faces and a sense of calmness inside the room, because somewhere in there was their friend trying to reach out, even just a bit.

They walked outside of the room with Natsu leading, they observed how his demeanor changed from one moment to the next; he walked with his hands behind his back and his chin up as if looking down at everyone from where he stood and the second they entered the grand hall they realized why.

Every dark guild member stayed silent when they entered, their eyes looking at them with hatred and their magic auras emanating causing the air around them to thicken, but even then Natsu didn't stop. He stood in the higher portion of the room, the one with the empty throne while his friends stood behind him.

He stayed silent and observed the dark guilds one by one, almost expecting for them to lower their eyes at his presence, but they didn't, and he knew their anger was surpassing their fear for him; Natsu nodded and turned towards his team when he heard someone slamming his hand on the table "This is unacceptable!" the man raised his hands and threw a dark blue energy beam his way, but he didn't even flinch.

In a second both Gajeel and Wendy stood protectively on his back; the iron slayer shielding while the bluenette pushed the energy back with her powerful wind until it hit the man on the chest throwing against the a wall on the far end; the slayers had surprised themselves, they hadn't even thought about moving, their bodies simply reacted by the sense of danger, and moved at their own accord.

Finally, Natsu turned and emitted a soft low growl causing both the slayers to straighten their backs and relax their fighting stance "I thought we had an agreement… I plan on holding my end of the deal, but let me be clear… I am not worried about any of you trying to lay a finger on any of the members of my court because you… are no match for them"

The dark guilds were visibly upset and one of the leaders from the previous day, the lean intellectual looking man raised his voice "My lord… we've earned our place here"

Natsu smirked, not in a nice way but in a mocking dark one "Earned?... Funny choice of words, I brought you here, you haven't earned shit"

"We will not be put down because of a group of…" he didn't finish; Natsu's deep dark growl echoed in the room deafening everyone and causing his magic energy to pulse, and if that wasn't enough, instinct took over causing Gajeel and Wendy to growl along with their leader, unifying their magical energy with his and causing ripples of raw power to fill the room, making everyone freeze in place.

Once the pinkette was done, a small vibrating rumble left his throat which seemed to indicate to the other two slayers to stop and take a normal stance. The guild leader was visibly shaken and sat down looking paler than normal. There wasn't a single soul there who hadn't felt the magic energy emanating from the tree of them or feared pissing them off after it.

"I guess formal presentations are due…" Natsu smiled wickedly and decided to add a bit of dramatic flair to his words "You've now met the slayers… raised by Dragons same as I was, Black Steel Gajeel and Wendy the Sky Maiden" the pinkette could almost hear some of the people gulp and congratulated himself.

"The little one there is Levy McGarden and…" Gajeel growled his words possessively "MY mate and wife…" Natsu shook his head "Right… anyway, do not let her size fool you, she can kill you with nothing more than her brain, and if she doesn't her mate will" he walked closer to the rest of the group "I'm sure you've heard stories of her and let me tell you, those are nothing in comparison to real life… Erza "Titania" Scarlett the queen of the fairies" some people gasped, most men amazed by the Amazonian woman who had been haunting their dreams for years.

"Jellal Fernandes, former council member who helped awaken Nirvana and activate the tower of heaven, Juvia Lockhart former member of Phantom Lord's Element four and of course… you've met her partner, Gray Fullbuster, son of Silver Fullbuster who worked directly under my brother. Take a good look at the people before you, these are the ones that will be leading any action we take and shall get your full respect or else… whatever order they provide should be followed as if it was my own"

Silence took over the room and he knew by how everyone else avoided his stare, their fear had surpassed their anger once more, and that pleased him greatly. He sat on the main table, on his right was Erza, Jellal, Helle and Mal and to his left Gray, Juvia, Levy and Gajeel with Ria sitting on the other end and Nephele on her right. The tension was palpable, but it didn't seem to bother his grandmother.

"Interesting…" Aporia wouldn't move her eyes from Natsu's "If you have any venom to spill now would be the time, I have no patience for your bullshit today Ria"

"Oh my precious boy… what exactly are your "friends" going to do when they see you pulling someone's heart out of their chest?" there was silence on the table, memories flooding their minds of the last time they had seen him "Oh… my bad that already happened, I remember the look of disgust on their faces when they saw you bathing in that poor girl's blood"

Before anyone could retort Erza stood up and materialized a sword on her hand, she pointed it directly towards her making people from the other tables gasp "Speak to him like that one more time and I swear my sword will be bathed in your blood; he is our family and I will not allow you to speak to him in such a way"

"Oh… she's spunky" Aporia smiled deviously "Is she also participating in the games for the royal seed, my dear grandson?" that caused Erza to blink a couple of times and confusion to fill the table, the words seed and grandson had opened a whole can of questions in their head "Jeez Ria… can we not talk about that during lunch, you are making me lose my appetite"

"Now who's acting virginal and innocent all of the sudden, you didn't seem to mind when you were bedding that worthless girl" Natsu felt his blood boiling and his chest constrict, the room temperature spiked suddenly but Erza and Gray tried to stand it "One… more… word…"

Aporia rolled her eyes and opened her mouth but Nephele grabbed her arm and shook her head; the table was starting to darken because of the heat and the pinkette was barely able to hold himself. Nephele cleared her throat "Honey you need to understand, she just wants to know if any of your new friends will be participating in the games, she didn't mean to…"

"Bullshit… she meant what she meant and she fucking knows it" his friends were getting more confused, all expect Gray of course who had been part of the conversation before "Well maybe he wouldn't be so reluctant if he wasn't being forced to it, but that is not a topic to discuss right now, is it?"

The tension on the table was enough to drown anyone, but in that moment Mal sensed the call he was waiting for; he maintain his unmoving face while throwing a tiny spark of fire underneath the table towards Natsu, which told him exactly what he needed to know.

"Right… we have more important things to discuss; we have a plan and I'm going to need your assistance" Ria arched her brow and rested her weight on the back of the chair "Do you now?... What exactly do you want?"

"Need Radoub" fear pulsed through her body, knowing that at any moment she could run out of magic and that if he noticed she was as good as dead along with all of her goals "I thought you wanted him to recover a bit before another play date, my dear"

"I need him for the next part of my plan…"

"Which is?" he smiled at her "None of your business"

"Then you can't expect me to help" he rolled his eyes and placed his hands behind his head "Fine... he'll get a choice, and depending on what he chooses he will live or die"

"I really don't think it's necessary for us…" he slammed his hand on the table "Well you are not here to think, are you? I want him here once we finish eating and he will either join me or die before everyone here; either way he'll serve as an example"

The rest of the table was silent, since only a couple knew what the plan was. Fairy Tail was in shock, seeing his friend's cold responses and knowing now he was fully capable of killing someone without mercy were things that still shook them to their very core, but they didn't comment on it; they knew there had to be a reason for Gray to look so calm.

Ria had no choice, refusing to bring her grandson's pray would be suspicious, and bringing him would hurt her magic reserves but there was nothing she could do about it and she knew it. Lunch went over as expected, awkward silences and stares but nothing more.

Once they were done, Ria stood up and started to walk away when Natsu stopped her "Aren't we forgetting something?" she took a deep breath "I'd like to freshen up before, if that's ok with you"

"It's not, I said I wanted him here by the time he finished, and I've said I have no patience for your bullshit today" she nodded; she hated being the submissive one at this point but her choices were limited. She had enough energy now to bring him without physically carrying him herself out of her void, so, she focused her energy and filler her surroundings with the purple fog.

Natsu could tell something was off, her fog moved slower and was less thick than before, he gave Mal a suspicious look and noticed the spirit had the tinniest smile on his face. Fairy Tail took a step back, not knowing what to expect and from one second to the other the fog started clearing leaving a sad attempt of a man on the floor.

"Ah… Remy" Natsu smiled, he snapped his fingers and Mal and Helle picked the man from the floor "I have a question to ask… if you take more than ten seconds to answer, my friend over here will fill your lungs with ice… and then I'll melt it just to keep you alive… 10 seconds more will be the guy over there impaling you with metal bars which I will also melt to burn your skin off…"

Gajeel gulped; he had been no stranger to torturing people when he had been lost… but now? He wasn't the only one that felt shaken, the rest of them were too at least until they heard Gray laughing and ice forming a path from him to Radoub, freezing his feet in place.

"Nod if you understand Remy…" Radoub gulped, tears fell from his face in panic "You have a choice here… tell me, do you want to live or die?"

"L-live…" Natsu nodded "Now… do you understand after out last talk why all of this happened?" Remy nodded "I do… I do…"

"Why… did… it… happen?"

"The council! The demon at the council! H-he tricked us all he used us to get to you" The pinkette nodded and placed his hand on Remy's shoulder "And what did I do for you?"

"You… spared me… to show me the truth"

"I showed you mercy… did I not?" Erza was biting her tongue, this wasn't her friend, this was an evil, rotten man torturing a broken mind for his benefit "You did… my lord" even Ria had her mouth a bit opened in surprise, wondering what he had done to the man that she hadn't"

"Will you serve me Remy? If I promise to give you your life back… will you join my family in the quest for vengeance?"

"I…" Remy gulped, more tears trickled down his face; the ice started climbing on his legs and he flinched from the pain "I will, I will!" he nodded and in a second the ice shattered and Mal and Helle released him, but before he fell to the ground Natsu wrapped his arms around him with a smirk "Welcome home then"

The dark guilds were impressed, Remy Radoub had been a man they had feared to stumble upon their journeys and now he was being held as a broken child, sobbing uncontrollably as if his life had been saved by some godsend man instead of a demon who had tortured him.

"Mal… take him to my chambers so he can get a proper bath, give him some clothes worthy of an ally… Wendy and Helle, heal his injuries and will someone please grab a plate of food for him? We can't have him starve now, can we?"

Gray grabbed an empty plate and filled it with grapes, cheese, bread and meat; he took a couple of wine bottles from the table "Juvs… grab some glasses will you?" she moved fast, still not understanding what was happening.

They walked all the way to Natsu's room in silence, not knowing what to expect and once they were inside and the door was closed, Mal released Remy who patted his clothes and smirked.

"Wow… the tears almost had me Rem… I almost felt pity for you" Remy walked to the bed and sat as if it was nothing "You're filthy as fuck, get off my bed asshole…"

"Not like you can't change the sheets, can I have some food now?" they all blinked in confusion; Gray moved and handed him the plate before opening the wine and handing him a glass "Good performance, a bit over exaggerated but hey, who am I to judge"

"I was over exaggerating? What about you and pyro over there… seriously? Freeze my lungs and impale me? Jeez…"

"OK… WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!"

"Metalbreath shut your piehole, will ya?" He signaled Mal "Mark them, every single one" Mal moved closer to Levy which earned him an immediate growl from Gajeel "Hands off"

"If you want her to be able to move undetected, I need to mark her, otherwise she'll be in danger" Levy smacked his arm and puffed her cheeks "Fine!... make it quick" he proceeded to mark her on her back, same with the rest.

"Ok, can you please explain now?" Erza stood in front of Natsu who smiled at her "We are going to get a Dragon"

"Yeah, that may be a problem" The pinkette turned to Remy who was munching eagerly "WHY is it going to be a problem?"

"He is not too convinced about you, he seemed to think it would be impossible for Dragons to raise humans and didn't believe your claim or your heritage, so…"

"So, he'll need some convincing…" Natsu sighed "That's fine… he'll have no way of denying it once we get there, did you mark the place?" The former council knight smiled before throwing an empty small vile Natsu's way.

"Ok, take a shower and change; you stink" Radoub stood up from the bed and bowed sarcastically before moving to the bathroom leaving a still confused group behind.

"Where the fuck are we finding a Dragon?!" Gajeel rubbed his forehead "They're dead, Salamander!" Natsu walked towards the small table and grabbed the wine bottle; he took a gulp and then handed it to the iron Dragon Slayer "We're not getting any Dragon… we are going to see the one I hoped never to cross paths with again"

"What the…" it stroke Gajeel as a lighting… he remembered the day Natsu had almost crushed Levy because of the smell on the cover of the diary and his eyes went wide "No fucking way…" the pinkette nodded and Gajeel simply sat on one of the chairs and gulped the rest of the bottle.

"What are you guys talking about?" Natsu turned to Erza and smiled, but unlike the smiles she'd seen so far this was painful and filled with nostalgia "We are going to visit the Dragon that killed my parents, the one that killed me" no one had words to reply to that, and so, silence filled the room once more while Natsu avoided their stares.

Not an hour after Levy had plastered runes all over the room to prevent any unwanted visitors and Remy was clean and clothed; as promised, Helle used her water magic and Wendy her healing powers and even when there were some scars and injuries that would be permanent he was back into good shape in no time.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Natsu tilted his head an bit his lip "I guess we'll find out soon, won't we?" they got closer and allowed Mal to cover them with his magic again although they were not extremely excited about going through such a painful experience, they knew this would be hard on their friend and they wouldn't allow him to go through with it without them.

It happened too fast; the magical cage like sphere covered them with its golden light and in a second they were gone; when they opened their eyes again they were greeted with darkness and a sense of dizziness, not as bad as the first time, but enough to delay their moves.

Erza looked up and saw her friend, surrounded with fire, his fists shaking in anger standing before a great, dark brown dragon who seemed to be trying to blink his confusion away.

"N-Natsu…" he didn't respond, he just stood there, growling at the menacing figure before her. They all tried to stand up and although they stumbled a couple of times, they finally managed to get close enough to see, although not as close as they would have liked to since Natsu was quite literally on fire.

"YOU… YOU!" The Dragon was speechless; the fire he sensed from the young boy was indeed his king's undying flame, but the smell of the boy told him so much more than that. He could tell, this was the same boy he had killed, but he had also come back to life as something completely different… demon, dragon, human… and a hint of something else which shook him deeply.

He had heard from Remy that this boy's father had been claimed by the God of war, but claimed children didn't hold the smell of the Gods, just the smell of their elements… this boy however did and it was that particular smell that shocked him the most.

The dragon opened his mouth to speak but closed it again a couple of times, how had he not noticed when the boy was young? Had he not been in such a state of frenzy when he attacked his home… maybe, maybe he had been able to stop himself but the hate an anger he felt had clouded his judgement and dulled his senses.

He turned to see the rest of the party and immediately got a whiff of Metalicana and Grandeeney "The human didn't lie… Dragons raising children… who would have thought"

"You… killed them, no… you tore them apart!"

"I did… and I hadn't regretted a thing until today… My lord" The dragon did his best to bow, but his restrains made it difficult. Natsu was about to unleash hell on the creature and everyone could tell, that was until Remy took a step forward despite the scorching heat "Remember we offered to spare him"

"SPARE HIM!? YOU SAW WHAT HE DID, YOU LOOKED INTO MY MIND AND SAW WHAT THAT BASTARD DID!"

"I do not wish to be spared" they turned to the Dragon and for a second Natsu's flames receded a bit "I will give you anything you want, and then you can claim your revenge"

"I will show you no mercy"

"I don't expect you to; I cannot take the winds anymore, nor do I want to live in a world where I am the only one left" Natsu felt hate for the creature before him, but also pity… he looked at his broken wings, claws and teeth, his missing scales and his dulled eyes… he had lived way passed his time, surely kept alive by the magic in the place he inhabited.

"H-how long have you been here?" Wendy's soft voice broke the silent tension "I'm unsure… since the boy and his family died" the small slayer's sad expression warmed the old Dragon's heart... he hated humans but these were tiny creatures specially selected by his own nest, the last standing heritage of dragons. He could smell the sweet wind surrounding the tiny blue haired girl, a smell that followed Grandeeney wherever she went.

"Remy… show me…"

"Before you do, there's something you need to know. All her journals are behind me on the south end, but I suspect most are of little to no importance…"

"Why?"

"Because the ones she really cares for are hidden in a place where no one would dare to reach" they stayed silent for a moment before the dragon proceeded "There's a hole on my back close to my neck… she cut through my scales and skin a long time ago, she hides them there"

Natsu walked around the massive dragon and took a couple of jumps before running up his back until the scent of blood got ticker; he could tell right away where the spot was, hidden by scales that didn't quite match the color because they were dead already.

He grabbed one of the dragon's pikes and placed his hand on the scale, immediately noticing the Dragon flinching from the pain he pulled the scale off and felt the rumble from the dragon's chest; Natsu couldn't avoid feeling a bit bad about hurting him but he also felt stupid for feeling anything other than hate for the monster that had ruined his life.

Just as he had said… the journals were deep inside his skin, wet with his blood and he wondered why the paper hadn't been destroyed by it. He pulled one of the books and noticed they were shoved tight and there wouldn't be a gentle way to do it.

He whispered, mostly to himself, but he knew the dragon would hear "I'm sorry…" then he pulled the first book, throwing it to below where Gajeel was waiting, he did the same with the other three before making his way down again.

The Dragon Slayer's hands were tainted with the Dragon's thick blood, and the smell was penetrating his nose causing too many negative emotions to invade his chest. Remy didn't waste time after that and casted his magic towards the great creature making the screens come up before him.

"This is going to consume my magic pretty quickly, so I need you to pay attention… I changed it a bit form when I used this on you to make sure we get as much as we can, he will show us what he wants to show us and it may not be as clear as we want"

They all stared almost without blinking as the scenes from the Dragon's life passed through their eyes; images from their Dragons and how their nest originally was, images of the land that had once been… images of the horrible war between dragons and human and finally… Aporia.

Helle walked towards Natsu and grabbed his hand tightly, and in the pain his soul felt he could do nothing but tightened his grip on her while he watched… from all the things they had expected to learn… what they saw was not one of them.

Once the images were over, Natsu was visibly shaking and mumbling to himself. Dark flames liked his skin, causing Helle to release his hand and take a step back to observe while his skin glowered with dark ink like marks covering his arms and his face; the pinkette's form started changing, his wings came out along with his scales… they were still red but their tone was darker every time, his horns and claws came then while his eyes shimmered in amber with a reptile like iris.

Natsu looked up to the dragon's face, not in anger or hate but with a devastated look as if the word he knew had come to an end "I am sorry… I truly am" the pinkette shook his head "You're not the one who needs to be sorry… not the only one"

"Will you end me now?" Natsu nodded, he walked closer to the dragon and knelt before one of his hands placing his own atop of his in a way that the rest would describe as gentle "Your name…"

"Alakhir…"

"You did what you thought best to protect your nest Alakhir… my father... both my fathers would have forgiven you"

"He was a great king… you have some big shoes to fill kid" Natsu clenched his jaw and pressed his hand tighter onto the dragon's before letting his magic seep into his arms, then his hands and finally touching the scales and circling around the dragon until it filled him entirely.

Everyone witnessed as the majestic creature lost the color in his skin, his eyes and scales… it was from one moment to the other when his dead weight pulled on his restrains and let him hanging lifelessly from wings that now looked paper thin.

He didn't seem to suffer despite of Natsu's promise for vengeance, he seemed to have shown the creature mercy in the end, and they couldn't blame him either… the Dragon had done exactly what Natsu had, he had sacrificed everything to keep his family safe and had failed while doing so. They did wonder... the magic Natsu had used was not Igneels... it wasn't fire at all and it scared them; the dark energy that took life away looked more like Zeref's curse than anything else.

Natsu stayed there, kneeling for a minute or two before standing up and going back to his regular form; he cleaned his face from the tears that were still there and turned back with an empty look on his face "We need to go…"

"Natsu… you can't do anything stupid"

"I know…"

"We have a plan and we need to…"

"I know Mal! Can we please just… I need to go" The pain he felt was too much to handle, but that was not the only reason he wanted to leave, and the slayers knew it.

They were connected now in a way they never thought was possible, and all the emotions Natsu was experiencing were overwhelming them… fear, anger, pain… but even more important was the sense that invaded their hearts when he made way for the dark markings of his skin… something was calling out to him deep within the darkness of the endless void they were standing on, something he felt he couldn't ignore but he knew he had to.

As soon as they went back Natsu stormed his way to the bathroom to fill the tub once more, he needed to get the stench of blood away from his skin.

Gajeel and Wendy marched to the door unable to stop themselves, they didn't care if it was out of character for them to barge in to interrupt a probably naked Natsu… what he was feeling was too much, too deep, too raw and they couldn't handle it; deep inside they wondered how he was able to keep himself from burning everything around him while feeling so much; they've always thought he was impulsive and lacked self-control and realizing just how much he was in fact able to control himself was kind of disturbing.

Before they were able to, Mal stopped them "Give him some privacy"

"Privacy!? You overestimated goat! Do you even know…"

"What he feels? I have an idea, but I guess is not close to what you two know now, but that doesn't change the fact that he needs to lick his wounds in privacy; his your nest's leader now… let him keep some of his pride now will you?"

Remy was sitting on the bed for a couple of minutes, completely in silence going over everything they'd seen; his magic was a blessing and a curse because in a way he had to connect his conscience with the person he was working with; he had always been able to separate his feelings from it but now as broken as he was and knowing he had been a part of a plan that had been set in motion centuries ago with the only intention of causing harm to people that had already been hurt too much… he wasn't sure he would be able to forgive himself, so, he made a silent promise to see this until the end, no matter what happened to him.

Natsu sat on the bathtub again, scrubbing the blood out of his skin and tainting the water around him while tears fell from his eyes seeing the treason over and over in his mind.

He had known since day one his grandmother was evil, it was no surprise to him when she lied or manipulated everyone to get her way but going to the extreme that she had… he had to know why, he needed to make sense of why a person claiming to be searching for revenge against the ones who had decimated her family would be the one behind it.

The feverish dream he had resonated in his mind… Ria had told his mother she would regret her life choices if she didn't join her, and she had followed through.

The witch had manipulated the war between dragons and humans for years, and she had visited the dragon nest promising to join the group who would comply with her wishes and threatening to make the same offers to the humans but was immediately turned down by Igneel himself.

 _"We will not get involved in this war anymore than we already have, I've heard of you sorceress… sorrow follows you wherever you go, and I will not let you taint my nest"_

 _"You rather have your nest dying then! The humans will show no mercy" the rumbling sound of Metalicana's deep laughter echoed in the huge clearing between the mountains "Humans will never be able to kill us! Whichever dragon has fallen under such small creatures was not worthy of being called a dragon"_

 _He was immediately silenced by Igneel's growl "Show some respect to our fallen brothers!" he shook his immense head "You came here for an answer, and we've given you one… you'll get enough time to leave but if you overstay your welcome I'll allow my nest to do as they please"_

 _Ria bowed and walked out of the clearing, and once outside she was met by Alakhir "Did you mean it? Will you be able to keep them safe?"_

 _"I once made the Boetian army killed their own just to get to their king, do not underestimate me" Alakhir nodded "Then I will do your bidding"_

 _"Your king won't be happy, he will have your head"_

 _"And that's a risk worth taking to keep my brothers alive… I'm not a young dragon and death will claim me eventually… I've seen what the humans and their magic can do… I've lost a son because of it and I will not allow them to experience the same pain"_

 _"How noble… you are willing to become a traitor to your people to ensure their survival?"_

 _"I am… Tell me what you need, witch"_

 _"There's a hill in the far south corner of the land, there's a stone house there where a man and a woman live with their 2 children…"_

 _"Why are they relevant to the war?"_

 _"Not to this war…"_

 _"You are a powerful woman, why not do it yourself?" she smiled "I can't be directly involved, I have my own reasons"_

 _"What do you want me to do?"_

 _"I need them dead, all except for the woman, I do not mind if she is hurt, I just need her alive… make the man suffer… burn them, tear them apart or eat them, I do not care… but the last thing he sees needs to be despair"_

 _"I will do my best to go against my king's wishes… now go"_

 _"You will do more than your best if you want to stop the future from happening" Ria's fog surrounded the dragon and penetrated him through his eyes and nose before she disappeared. The fog showed him images of a pink haired man wielding a sword surrounded by fire and a woman with a dark aura laughing before the corpses of his nest burning them with black flames and consuming their souls._

Natsu rubbed his eyes, what came after that he knew well…

 _"You are ok baby, I've got you…"_

Those words… those damn words that seemed to seal his destiny at every turn… he remembered trying to touch his mother's soft face before he was bathed in her blood, the life leaving his mother's eyes while more blood poured through her mouth… the sharp claw impaling her chest and stomach…

The image of his father trying to keep an unconscious Zeref safe and yelling while the dragon made his mother bounce on the ground, the cracking sound of her bones breaking on impact… he remembered stretching his hand to reach his father's and being an inch too far to touch him one last time before the dragon pulled him and tore him apart.

That had been the moment… what had determined the next hundreds of years of history, what had made his brother obsessed with restoring what he'd lost and had led to so many deaths, and the words that kept resonating in his head… _"You are ok little brother, I've got you"_

She had tricked the dragon, she had showed him a future that would never happen, and he was now sure she had been the one torturing him with images of Zeref. They'd all been peons… and he was determined to end this once and for all, so the next time those words were heart by his family the meaning would be correct instead of an invisible curse taunting them like it taunted him.


	39. Chapter 39

**OK, so first of all sorry for the long wait. These whole Covid19 took us all by storm and I needed to assure my team had everything they needed to work safely and comfortably from their homes, also had to make some adjustments in my house in order to keep up stable service for all our customers. BUT I am here and I said once I never leave a story pending, so even if it takes me longer due to this whole thing, I promise I won't go away anytime soon.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **A man dies ... only a few circles in the water prove that he was ever there. And even they quickly disappear. And when they're gone, he's forgotten, without a trace, as if he'd never even existed. And that's all.**

 **WOLFGANG BORCHERT, _The Outsider_**

 **Death is the end of the struggle to make things work, to keep them together, to show a consistency of plan and action, a directionality of will.**

 ** _ERMANNO BENCIVENGA, The Discipline of Subjectivity_**

* * *

 **Previously:**

The image of his father trying to keep an unconscious Zeref safe and yelling while the dragon made his mother bounce on the ground, the cracking sound of her bones breaking on impact… he remembered stretching his hand to reach his father's and being an inch too far to touch him one last time before the dragon pulled him and tore him apart.

That had been the moment… what had determined the next hundreds of years of history, what had made his brother obsessed with restoring what he'd lost and had led to so many deaths, and the words that kept resonating in his head… _"You are ok little brother, I've got you"_

She had tricked the dragon, she had showed him a future that would never happen, and he was now sure she had been the one torturing him with images of Zeref. They'd all been peons… and he was determined to end this once and for all, so the next time those words were heard by his family the meaning would be correct instead of an invisible curse taunting them like it taunted him.

* * *

He sat there for an indefinite amount of time, the water was already cold which he usually hated… but he was just too out of himself, so tired, that he didn't bother to warm it up with his magic.

It was almost as if time had stopped except he knew it hadn't; the only noise inside the room was his breathing and the dripping sound of the water droplets that fell from his pink strands of hair while he observed the ripples they caused.

Such a tiny thing… a water drop that caused a disturbance in its surroundings, innocent at sight as the small current caused by the wings of a butterfly… that was him, wasn't it? A big nothing that had broken through and rippled over and over causing everyone to lose their ground… something so small for some could be a wave that destroyed everything for others… and that was for sure him, or at least that's how he felt at the moment.

Natsu had no words to explain the feeling or if it even was a feeling… a sensation maybe? He wasn't even sure anymore… it was almost as if his heart was cold, freezing and shaking in the middle of a snowstorm.

His head was still filled with images that caused pain, loss, and regret… everything was coming down on him because he was after all no different than the creature he had hated for so long.

He had killed him despite knowing the truth, he didn't regret taking the Dragon's life but he wasn't sure why that was; whether it was that his heart was getting colder, the fact that he had finally gotten some revenge or mere mercy… he didn't know nor did he cared.

Alakhir had fallen into the claws of Aporia just like he did, and had played the traitor in her plot to get… what? That was the real question.

He had been imagining the moment in which he would confront the great dragon of his nightmares and turn him into ash, and in the end, he had done it with pain and sorrow…

Could he hate him now? That hate had driven him, fed him and pushed him to go further every time and now it was gone, but at the same time it wasn't… Had Natsu not betrayed his family? Had he not broken his promises and allegiances? Had he not played the traitor to perfection? Yes… the hate was there but now he saw it with open eyes, he didn't hate anyone else but himself.

His fisted hands shook under water and then slowly rose to cover his face "What the fuck did I do…" Images of him making his friends kneel before him… humiliating them while he smiled, the devastated look on Sting and Rogue's face while fighting each other at his command, the pride of Laxus and Gajeel broken, and Wendy… the one that had given nothing but love just being showed she was not strong enough to push just because she had too much heart… she had been punished just because she cared, and he had been the perfect punisher.

Alakhir had been restrained and broken by Aporia… but Natsu knew he had done the same thing to his friends.

 _'Runs in the family doesn't it? Ruining lives… taking and taking…'_

It bothered him, but sadly, his brain went back to one thing… the personal sense of betrayal; he wondered for a bit when he had become so selfish as to care more about that than everything else.

The battle for his soul was a painful one; for a couple of days he had thought he was regaining the bits and pieces left but today he felt he had lost, he had taken a step forward and two back, and he knew it once that cold feeling invaded his chest.

For a little bit he allowed that darkness to fill him and with each breath he took the pain went away little by little, almost as if a drug made it into his system numbing him, and it felt ok… being numbed was better than being in pain, feeling nothing had to be better than enduring what he had and what he would.

Natsu took one final breath and pushed himself out of the tub; he ignited his flames to dry himself but he could tell even his fire was different; the once soothing warmth of his fire was also numbed and in its place had left dark black flames that did little to make him feel better; he missed his scarlet fire and Igneel's warmth.

He looked at the clothes he'd left on the floor and they almost seemed offending… he didn't know why but everything bothered him… the mirror, the clothes, the tile… everything seemed to be in his way.

He picked up his stuff and turned the doorknob; once he stepped out of the bathroom, he noticed his friends were still there, nervously waiting for him to come out and awkwardly looking at him; he rolled his eyes and threw his red leather vest at Mal "Get rid of it"

"One would thing Flame-For-Brains would be able to burn his own stuff…" Gray tried to soften the mood and Gajeel immediately followed despite the weird feeling in his chest, his response was one driven by habit and not instinct "Mavis knows how many times we've had to see his bare ass after burning half of his and Bunny's clothes"

The tension only increased and they knew it had not been the time for jokes, It didn't have the desired impact since Natsu just walked to his closet to get something else to wear. Levy got closer and leaned on the closet's door giving him a compassionate look which cause him to give her a mean glare "We know it's hard but…"

"What's hard Levy?" his cold tone made her flinch, but she didn't move from her place; he pulled a shirt from inside the storage and turned away before putting it on "Natsu…"

"No, no, come on, you said it's hard… what exactly?"

"Finding out what happened… I mean" he laughed and it was the scariest sound they've heard in a long time because it wasn't a sad or a happy laugh but the one of someone barely clinging to his sanity "You're being stupid Lev"

"Hey!" Gajeel stood up but was immediately stopped by Levy's hand while she remained quiet "I've seen my parents dying like that hundreds of times since I got my memories back, every fucking time I close my eyes Levy… yes, learning that my bitch of a grandmother orchestrated their" he closed his eyes and sighed "Our downfall was disturbing but do you think I'm surprised at this point?"

"How would we know, uhm? You're not telling us a thing!"

He shook his head and smiled, again not in a nice way but with a daring smirk "Ok… you want me to talk to you guys, let's talk then" he sat on the bed and crossed his arms above his chest.

"Y'all know by now how they died, and why Zer did what he did, so… do you forgive him?"

"What?" he smiled and tilted his head "Now that you know what he saw, what he lost… now that you know loneliness and guilt drove him mad, would you forgive him?"

"Natsu what he did was…"

"Unforgivable" She nodded "He harmed many of our friends, he took everything from many" he shook his head and sighed "Then you are hypocrites"

"Now, wait a minute mister!" He slammed his hand on the mattress, golden strikes filled his eyes "Why would you forgive me then?!"

"You are not the same" he laughed a painful laugh, but nodded "You're right, I'm worse… I didn't go crazy, I wasn't alone, I didn't even remember… I was in my right mind when I did what I did" there was a silence in the room, no one dared to accept or deny his words and he knew they wouldn't.

"It's ok, I don't regret what I did one bit, and I would fucking do it again, they would have killed you all" Gray pushed himself away from the wall and walked angrily while pointing his finger at his friend's face "That's bullshit! We would have fought them!"

"AND YOU WOULD HAVE FAILED!" The resonating sound of his voice forced them to stay quiet "If I failed, what makes you believe you would have been able to do it, hm?" Gajeel's fists were shaking but it wasn't him who spoke next but Erza.

"Leaving aside the fact that you are disregarding our strength and the fact we've saved your behind several times… We never asked you to sacrifice yourself for us"

"You never had to ask before, did you? She didn't have to either" no one really had an answer for that, any of them would have gladly put their lives at risk to protect the other, but no matter how many times that happened, the one that would always risk the most was him, and they knew it.

"Ria lied" he pointed at Mal and Helle "You two did as well, several times… fuck even my parents and Igneel lied" Mal sat on the bed and gave him a stern look "They didn't lie"

"Sure, not telling my brother and I we were half royalty half…" he pointed at Helle "whatever she is… is not lying! And Igneel?! He fucking knew this…" he shook his head "I thought him knowing Ana and Zeref had been "it", but he knew exactly who we were since way before that"

"He was trying to protect you!" Mal tried to reach out to Natsu but he raised his hand before he could "And look what a great job he did" there was an awkward silence in the room "He raised my father and let him go… he met my brother and knew what he was becoming… and he let him go, he got me and what did he do?!"

"Natsu…"

"He let me go! He disappeared and remained quiet for years only to come back and die before me, he told me nothing about this, what do you want me to believe in now? Uhm?"

Natsu didn't see it coming and none of the rest did either, but when the strong water stream hit his face he barely had time to not choke; he started coughing and blinking, completely baffled while looking at Juvia's angry face.

"Natsu-san is the one being stupid!" They all looked at her for a second before she walked and lowered her face merely inches away from Natsu's "What to believe in? YOUR FAMILY, that's who you should believe in"

"How the fuck am I supposed to…"

"The same way Natsu-san has done it a thousand times before! The same way we have believed in you since the start!"

"You don't know what I've…"

"DO NOT DARE to tell Juvia she doesn't know what you've been through" her threatening tone made him close his mouth immediately, not because he was scared but because even when she had been in the picture for a long time and she was family, it was a rare occasion when she burst at them "Juvia was in pain, disconnected from everything until Gray-sama came… Juvia had done very bad things! And you and the rest didn't care, you were there, and you believed and in return Juvia believed too!"

He frowned and looked away "I killed people Juvia, lots of them" she softened her face and sat on the bed next to Natsu "Who said I didn't?" no one dared to speak; they had figured out she had but they had been kind enough not to ask.

"You think Juvia spent so much time with the Element 4 without taking lives?" she turned to Gajeel and he nodded "She ain't wrong Salamander, we did our fair share of damage and that is something we can't undo, but we are here"

Levy got closer, hugging herself and sighed "We would have found the way to forgive him…" the pinkette looked at his friend and opened his mouth but the words didn't come out "If he had reached out, talked to us and asked for help… we would have forgiven him"

Jellal snorted from the other end of the room "You're really hardheaded, you know? You were the first one to forgive me, you forgave Juvia and Gajeel, Cobra and Mavis knows who else… you have befriended almost every enemy you've faced… you'll forgive your family too… eventually"

Natsu took a deep breath and looked up to see Gray lovingly observing Juvia, and he knew… no one cared about what they had done and were now even more proud of them for coming out of that victorious "Stop giving Juvia that puppy look, Ice princess, you're going to make me gag, is bad enough that she has your scent all over her…"

"Fuck you pyro" the comment didn't have the usual bite, it was more of a relieved tone because for a second Gray noticed how Natsu's angry expression lines softened a bit. Everyone noticed now the obvious connection between the slayers, it was almost as if when he relaxed, the rest did too and the tension in the room dissipated a bit.

"Ok…" Erza arched her eyebrow "Ok, what?" he nodded "Ok… I'll believe in you guys and tell you everything, but there's one thing y'all need to understand before I do, and I need you to promise to do as I say"

"We can't make a promise without knowing what you are talking about"

"Jeez Erza! Could you please… just promise" she sighed and nodded. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath "There's nothing you can do to change what's going to happen in the end, we're in a dead end, and running out of time"

"What's going to happen?" Levy regretted asking the question as soon as it left her mouth, Natsu's somber expression told them everything they needed to know, the despair in his face was deep and filled them with sorrow "I'm going to die, and there is no way for you guys to save me"

Wendy walked closer and fisted her hands "Don't say that! We'll find a way!" he smiled sweetly at her and ruffled her hair "There's only one thing you can do for me, and that is make sure Lucy stays safe"

Levy sniffled and closed her eyes "You've always said there's always a way out… no impossible scenarios…" he sighed and looked away "Yup… and now I'm telling you this is it… I don't have anything else to give, nothing under my sleeve… this is it"

The tiny bluenette bit her lip, she wouldn't give up, none of them would but for now they would listen to what he had to say "Tell us what to do…" he nodded "I need you to take a look at those books Levy, they may not give us the answer but there is something in there she doesn't want anyone to know, and we need to know what that is; as for the rest, we need to find where Lucy is and bring her here, but once we do I need you to play the part… even with her here"

"Meaning?" Erza crossed her arms under her chest and shifted her weight "She means nothing to me and is merely here for me to accomplish my purpose, she is of no importance"

"That's going to kill her!"

"No Lev… being far from me will… but loving me will have the same effect" he sighed "Mal, you will find a way to break the bond so when I die, she stays safe"

"Natsu…" Levy shook her head, her eyes were filled with tears but she did the best she could to remain calm "I know you think that's going to work, but even without the bond…"

"It's out best bet…"

"You would rather her live on thinking the love of her live despised and abandoned her, do you think that won't drive her mad? Do you think she won't torture herself until death thinking she lost you in more ways than one?"

The pinkette turned to his friend with an emotionless expression; the slayers had noticed the shift inside of him every time it happened, and it alarmed them deeply. Yes, every time he allowed the darkness to seep through the pain would go away little by little, but other emotions did too, and they could feel it in their bones.

"She will survive the loss, and the pain; she'll mourn me, and you will make sure she feels the love she deserves, so, yeah I rather her staying alive"

"Salamander, are you insane?!"

"What would you do Gajeel… if it was Levy"

"We're not talking about me and the Shrimp"

"Ok, but what if we were… would you rather her be sad or dead?" Gajeel shifted his weight and bit the inside of his cheek "Fine…"

"Well that only leaves us one concern" Natsu looked at Mal, not knowing what he was talking about "Will YOU be able to lie to her too once she's here?" Natsu took a deep breath and allowed his weight to fall on the backrest "I have to"

* * *

Hades sat on his skull throne, one leg crossed above the other and resting his weight on his right arm while sipping the thick red liquid from a bone made cup; his face was usually emotionless because he believed a God who showed emotion was weak… that was one of the reasons he hated his nephew… always so filled with passion or anger, his total opposite in many ways.

His pale skin shone as usual, like the moon reflecting the sun and the idea bothered him because even if Ares wasn't the sun, his fire would shine as if he was one.

He had been tasked with taking the dead and he had hated life ever since… life was not something he could have around since it would wither in his presence and the sense of wanting had tainted his mind only a couple of times in the past but that last one had been… chaotic… an inexcusable display of emotion that he couldn't really regret.

The ruler of the underworld would never admit aloud that this want had been a desire of his heart… no… Ria had been told only what she needed to hear, that he needed her in order to overthrow his siblings, to increase his power in the land of the living, and he had thought it was true for the longest time until he realized he could lie to everyone but himself.

His frown grew deeper and deeper by the minute until an annoying presence invaded his space causing him to roll his eyes while a smiling young-looking man approached him.

The man was a head shorter than him, long blond curls filled his head, a polite smile neither too big or too small making it difficult to know the type of news he carried, and his eyes were as green as leaves from the forest.

"I'll clip those ridiculous wings away Hermes…"

"Looking as cheerful as usual uncle!" he bowed respectfully and smiled before shrugging "Haven't been here in some time, you haven't done much with the place"

Hades tapped his fingers on the armrest of his throne "What brings you here? Must be something important if you decided to show your face again"

"I never knew what I did to anger you so much uncle, it was so long ago that I bet you don't even remember"

"Around four centuries ago… I remember, now could you please get this over with?" the young man waved his hand, making a golden envelope appear "You've been summoned"

"I am not a pet and cannot be summoned every time they feel like it"

"The matter to discuss is of high importance uncle… your decision will determine which side you are on; I recommend you take this matter seriously"

"And if I refuse?" Hermes smiled as if he found the response amusing "Then that shall be taken as your answer" the messenger of the Gods turned every way making sure they were alone "I bring you a second letter… one I was asked to be discrete about" he waved his hand making a scarlet letter appear.

"I hope whatever your brother paid you with was worth it to do his dirty work… nephew" the younger God smiled and nodded before waving goodbye and disappearing in the abyss.

Hades opened the golden seal of the first letter and sighed… the Gods intended to discuss the prophecy and uncover which Gods had betrayed their purpose and taken part in manipulating fate, they expected to meet in two moons to give everyone enough time to choose their proposed action; he burnt the letter with his dark flames and opened the red envelope which only contained a few words from Ares "Chose your side wisely", he found funny the fact that he had taken the time to sign as "The God of war", almost as if sending a message that his side was the right one.

The dark fire behind him flickered almost making a painful sound, he walked towards it and caressed it with care and delicacy "I will choose us if it comes to it… the kid has earned this war by himself, he is not powerful enough to keep any of us safe" the fire grew and flickered from side to side, almost as if trying to get out of its place.

"You have eons to understand this decision… a few centuries of pouting won't change my mind"

* * *

Lucy had lost all sense of time and although it wasn't because of her current surroundings, it certainly didn't help; darkness usually filled every corner of the long aisle that led to their cells and it almost seemed as if she had been stuck there forever… she spent most of her time sleeping now, it seemed as if energy was being drained by the minute and she silently begged for him to come soon…

 _"I jumped… he will catch me… I jumped… he will come… he always does"_ that was what she repeated in her mind over and over, like a mantra, until she was claimed by sleep again, only the voices of the kids calling out for her would wake her but even they could tell there was something wrong with her.

She opened her eyes as soon as she heard the dry noise of his footsteps on the ground, she shivered and hugged herself by the middle… he was coming again and there was nothing she could do… she was still useless. Just the thought of listening to more screams of pain coming from their tiny throats made her want to quit a bit more every time.

The mere thought of what those kids were going through caused her to get nauseous… she hadn't seen what he'd done but she could imagine by Miko's description, he had explained that the man had taken Adae before she came in and that the sweet four year old with gray-blue hair now had permanent markings of nine dotted lines and a straight line around her arm while he had the same markings Natsu had of the council symbol carved onto his side.

The kids had mentioned the injuries were painful and warm, they said they could feel the swelling on the cuts, and she worried, infection in a place like that wouldn't be easy to handle.

The stumping sound became clearer every second and without knowing her eyes started to tear up, the cringing sound of their jail cell opening and their sobs almost took her out and she wished she could just close her eyes and go to sleep but she couldn't… they needed to know she was there for them; yes, she wanted to quit but she wouldn't because if Natsu wasn't there for them then she would until he came to get them.

The acute cry that came after that made her bite her lip… she knew the little voice by now; Neri was crying her heart out and she could tell the kids had try to pull her back but they were too young and weak to do so.

"P-ple-e-ase…" Arlo was pulling the poor five year old kid from her long orange hair "Sorry kid, that doesn't work on me" he pulled her up until she was facing him and she cringed by looking at his empty, dark eye; his strong hand was holding her bright curls by the ends while her tiny hands held the part above her head to try to ease the pain.

"You know what would work?" he smiled at her and her innocent and naïve heart made her feel a tiny bit of hope.

She sniffled "W-what?" he brough her tiny face closer to his until his nose was touching hers "If you tell me where I may find Natsu Dragneel" her heart sunk and she cried again, this time yelling "We don't know where papa is! He doesn't know where we are either!"

Arlo laughed and slammed her, face first on the rock bed "How do you know that? Maybe he has known where you are all along and he just doesn't want to deal with some pitiful dirty orphans"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Arlo kept laughing while he chained her hands below the table "Yeah, I bet that's it, he is going to let y'all die down here, I mean he got rid of you once… what makes you think he even wants you as his kids?"

"DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM!" Lucy was beyond angry "He does not know Natsu at all and I am sure if he let you go, it was to keep you safe!"

"Blondie! Look at where you guys are… no one is safe here, I bet the bastard knew all along and decided to send you as sacrificial lambs! Who would want weaklings around? You can't even save yourselves… you ain't worth saving"

"LIAR!" he pressed Neri's cheek against the cold stone bed causing her to whimper, then he slid his hand up and pulled her hair again to keep it tense "You know… I consider myself an artist"

Arlo pulled a long straight knife with a silver handle that served as a brass knuckle, he pressed it against the kids cheek and smirked before moving it up and cutting a chunk of her hair; he moved dangerously close to her head but the precision of his movements made him avoid her skull every time.

He enjoyed creating panic; the look on her eyes every time the knife clashed with the stone making an acute and raspy sound made him shiver from excitement, the tears on her eyes fueled him.

"Ready to talk little carrot?" she yelled and cried and tried to pull herself up to no avail "W-we don't know… w-why don't you believe us?"

Arlo's face got close enough that if he chose to, he could have bitten her ear off "Do you want to know a secret?" he caressed her now short hair "I believe you"

"T-hen w…" he pressed his index on her mouth "Shh…shh… because tiny one… I don't give a shit whether you know or not…"

Neri didn't understand; how could a man be so evil? Even their parents wouldn't hold a candle to him, their parents had wrong beliefs and no conscience but this man, he knew the difference between right and wrong, he just didn't care about it.

"In the end you are all going to die, if he comes which I highly doubt… he will find nothing but your dry remains cut in pieces and I'm going to enjoy taking the life of each and every one of you… little by little"

She was scared… too scared and she didn't know how or why but that fear that was stuck in her chest suddenly made way to a feeling she couldn't describe, and it took over.

"You're dead… he will kill you" Arlo laughed but she didn't budge, she sobbed and sniffled "Papa will make you cry"

As soon as she finished, her face was pushed again, and he flipped his knife to pointed down towards her shoulder blade making her cry her heart out once more.

He did feel as an artist every time the tip of his blade released the scarlet liquid from its confinement, and as such the movement of his wrist was quick, soft, and clean, just like a painter with a brush… and he brushed over and over.

She yelled until her lungs were about to explode, until her friends felt their ears would bleed, until Lucy almost fainted from the pain in her soul.

Neri's back rose with every tiny sob, she didn't faint… she hoped she would, and she tried hard to let go but it wasn't meant to be.

The man had drawn on her from her collarbone to below her shoulder even covering a portion of her back to make it symmetrical; the design was like a net with many diamond forms, some of them with a dot in the middle, framed by a double like on every end and corner.

Just as he had done before, he took the chains off and pulled her from the rock table; he grabbed the remains of her hair before tossing her towards the rest of the children who did just as they'd done before; they embraced and cuddled her, whispered in her ear with loving words to sooth the pain and tried to clean her wounds with the little fabric they had left.

Arlo locked the cell and walked towards Lucy's, she made herself small until her face was hiding between her knees protecting herself in whatever way she could.

"Don't tell me that fire in your eyes is dying already, I still have big plans for you, doll" she remained quiet, trying to calm her breath, taking as much air as she could despite the penetrating and puncturing pain she felt on her chest.

"Tik Tok Blondie… your time is almost up" Arlo threw the orange tresses of hair he had removed from the young girl, the strands fell slowly on top of Lucy while he left in silence; he wouldn't physically hurt her yet… he wanted her to see what he could do, he wanted all hope gone before she died so when her eyes finally closed, they would be nothing more than empty shells… mirrors without reflection.

The sound of his boots became shallow until it was too far to be heard; she raised her face and cleaned her tears, but they wouldn't stop falling. Lucy did her best to hide her sorrow and started singing the lullaby her mother would sing for her to sleep, hoping it would bring some calm to the children… it was something small, but it was also the only thing she could do.

She knew Shiro hadn't come around yet and she was thankful for it after the kids explained what had happened to Teiga; the kid had come back from it but it was almost as if he wasn't fully there, he was mostly quiet and drifted away easily and she wasn't sure if it had something to do with what they've taken away or if the trauma from the experience was simply too big for him to process.

"Do you really think he'll come for us?" Calei's voice was soft but in the endless emptiness that surrounded them made it easier for her to hear.

"Of course he will…" Lucy wasn't sure if he would, but she had to believe it because believing he wouldn't would mean giving up hope.

* * *

Natsu felt restless, he turned in bed over and over without being able to sleep, sighing and grunting.

"Could you stop that?"

"You could go to your own fucking room…" Gajeel was sitting on small velvet couch with his heavy combat boots resting on the table "Well if you could avoid… you know… suddenly dying, I would be more than happy to let you be"

"Well why don't you…" Electricity lit the sky far away in the distance, and a couple seconds later the rumbling sound of thunder broke the silence again, it caused both Natsu and Gajeel to sit up before staring at each other; Gajeel frowned and arched his eyebrow "That almost sounded like…"

"No way… he can't find us here"

"You better hope he can't… I doubt things would work according to your plan if he does"

"He won't… just go to sleep metal-head"

"I will if you do…" Natsu allowed his weight to fall on the bed again and rubbed his face; his chest felt tight, there was a puncturing pain on his heart and he knew there was something wrong… his strength wasn't diminished but his willingness and energy were a different story.

He closed his eyes until eventually he allowed himself to drift away.

 _Natsu found himself in a place he now knew well, the vast emptiness of nothing… there was an echo inside his head, a soft humming of some sort and even though it took him long, after a while he recognized the sound._

 _It was a melody he'd heard before from her lips when she caressed his head on the train trying to sooth him while he slept._

 _"Luce?... where are you" He walked around the dark space in his mind, stepping on the inexistent ground knowing he had to ignore her but unable to do so "Please talk to me… where are you?"_

 _The echo stopped with a choked sound, almost as fast as it came leaving him alone all over again; he ran as fast as he could but there was really nowhere to go until suddenly, he saw something in the distance._

 _Natsu walked closer until he was standing in front of a solid structure that reached his hips, it was a bone made firepit with huge rib like bones that reached above his head and ended in sharp spikes; it seemed to be embracing the darkest fire he had ever seen; he knew he should have felt scared, but instead he felt the warmth returning to his heart and that confused him even more._

 _"What are you?" The fire flickered and stretched until it caressed his face and he couldn't help but compare it to his own dark flames, but his were cold and emotionless while this were… the opposite._

 _The fire flickered in the middle almost as if it wanted to speak, but no words came from it, still one word came to his mind 'Run'. It flickered once more but this time it pushed him away._

 _"What the hell do you want from me!?" just as he spoke the words, the nothingness started to clear, little by little revealing more details of the room; first came the dark rock stone, then the bone like torches and by that point the dark fire became violent, as if trying to release itself from its restrains… and again the word came to his mind, this time stronger and with a familiar voice 'RUN'._

 _The nothingness he knew was incapable of returning an echo, but still for some reason now he heard delicate and steady footsteps; every time the click-clack sound of shoes made a sound he could hear his heart pumping harder, his instincts were telling him something was definitely wrong._

 _Again, the image became clearer and just as the sound became stronger he was able to see a big bone made throne and a silhouette getting closer to the fire, almost close enough for him to squint his eyes to make sense of what he saw, but the fire wouldn't have it._

 _Hell broke loose… the warmth fire became savage and smashed him so hard that he felt his lungs would explode; in a second, he was falling in the vast emptiness with nothing to soften the eventual blow._

Natsu sat up in bed and grabbed the bedsheets "W-what… the… fuck…" he was already surrounded by Mal, Gajeel and Wendy who was crying and holding his arm.

"Are you ok?" he shook his head "I'm… not sure"

"Did you see her again?" Mal didn't think it would be the case… this time Natsu's heart hadn't stopped, his breathing never ceased, and he knew Lucy was something he couldn't deny, no matter how much he wished he could.

"I didn't… it was something else…"

"Tell me" Natsu locked eyes with Gajeel for a second and sighed, he knew hiding something by now was useless and even if he didn't quite understand it, it was clear to him that the slayers now had a connection with him beyond what he could control.

He started telling them what had happened and when he was half way through the story, lighting illuminated the sky again, this time a bit closer… Natsu paid attention and noticed how the light and rumble synced with his heart; he shook it off and continued.

"That sounds like a very creepy nightmare" Wendy hugged herself and shivered "Except it wasn't" Natsu removed the covers and took his shirt off, revealing a big burn on his middle, one that seemed more painful that what he let on.

"Oh no! Let me…"

"S'ok Wendy… you don't have to…" she smacked his hand away and frowned before placing her hands close to his skin "Except I do…"

There were a few moments of silence while Wendy worked on his injury, and once she was done, he locked eyes with Gajeel again "I think… Laxus is coming"

"I fucking knew it… well you can kiss your evil friends goodbye… there is no way sparky is going to sit down and follow your lead"

"We have bigger things to worry about" They all turned to Mal who looked extremely worried "You can't sleep anymore; whatever it takes we need to keep you awake"

"What are you talking about?! He needs to rest, look at him!" Wendy gave Mal her best angry look which caused Mal to smile at her before sighing "Natsu's right… that wasn't a dream and the place he describes is one he should never step on, it's a place only few get an invitation to… and most don't want one"

"Well spit it out man! Jeez… you like your drama, don't you?"

"The underworld"

Natsu's cocky expression soften and he tilted his head in confusion "Er… meaning…"

"The land of the dead"

"Wait did I die again?" Gajeel snorted "Of course you didn't I was here, your stupid heart never stopped"

"You didn't die… it seems you were invited there and like I said I only know of a few that get an invite" Natsu waved his hand signaling him to continue "Gods, the souls of the dead, and people who want to bargain"

"Ok, well I ain't a friggin God, nor did I die according to lugnut over here, and I'm fucking sure I don't want to bargain shit!" Mal nodded "Exactly… that can only mean he wants something from you and I've never heard of him asking for stuff politely"

"Him?"

"Hades… The ruler of the underworld"

"This shit keeps getting weirder and weirder…" everyone nodded in agreement, a couple months back they were clueless about the Gods' existence, and about the huge rabbit hole they were about to fall in.

"Mal I need you to go see a man about a lightning…"

"Are you stupid?" Gajeel stood up, turned on his heel and walked to the other end of the room "Laxus still thinks he's with the bad guys and he won't be happy when he sees him! Also, he just said we need to keep you awake?!"

"He can travel faster, and you can hit me as soon as you see I'm about to fall asleep, better?" The Iron Dragon Slayer scrunched his nose "You're betting too much on him"

"Well you know me… always love a good bet"

"Fine! But if I split your head open to keep you awake, I don't want Titania getting on my face!"

Mal sighed and nodded "Gajeel I can be back in no time if I feel something is wrong with him, it'll be fine"

"And what are you planning to do with Sparky? He ain't gonna be happy to see you"

"I imagine he won't, but I promise I'll bring him here in one piece" Gajeel burst in laughter and shook his head "Oh boy… you have lots of confidence in your skills, don't you?" Mal smiled and nodded "Then you don't know Laxus well enough… Let's hope you are both able to come back in one piece, I'm already babysitting one Dragon Slayer, don't need to turn that into two and one weird spirit"

* * *

The day did not go any better after that; Natsu managed to stay up the rest of the night, but after mid-morning he started to feel the strain… his eyes felt heavy and he had to stop himself from yawning since he was sure he wouldn't look too intimidating while doing so.

He went into his room and noticed Levy laying on her belly, looking at the journals and chewing on her magic pen; she was so focused that she didn't notice his presence. Natsu could tell something was bothering her; her breathing and sighing was as much as an indication as the frown on her face.

"Anything interesting?"

"HOLLY C… Don't scare me like that!"

"Jeez, not my fault you were so into that Lev" he saw her chew the inside of her cheek "Is bad isn't it?" he walked to the bed and sat next to the book before brushing his fingers through the pages, and he felt a pulse going from his fingertips to his head.

"Uhm… it's too soon to tell… I need more time with these pages if that's ok with you"

"Yeah… just… try to hurry up… please?" she gave him a half-hearted smile and nodded "Of course" he left the room and left Levy by herself.

She sat up and fell on her back with the book still on her hands; what she saw there was even worse than what she expected and she wasn't completely sure Natsu could handle it well, hell… she was sure he wouldn't.

Even when Aporia had proved time and time again that she was bad, the fact that she would do what she did didn't make sense for her.

Natsu closed the door to the room and as soon as he did, he felt his head pulsating, he rubbed his forehead with his hand when suddenly he heard an echo of a young laughter which made him turn.

"What the hell?..." he took a couple of steps and was startled by the faint image of a child running through the hall and laughing; he sped up and walked behind it, seeing it disappear and then appear again a couple steps further until he reached the door of Aporia's old library.

He stood outside of the door for what felt like ages but in reality, was just a couple of seconds; he reached out to the doorknob with shaky fingers and turned it before slightly pushing the door.

The library was still empty, and he sighed to himself; he rubbed his eyes with his hand "I'm definitely going insane…". He heard the echo of a laughter and looked up again and blinked in confusion when suddenly things started appearing in the room.

He saw a small child, no more than 4… jumping from one couch to the other and giggling; Natsu allowed his weight to fall on the closed door behind him and slid all the way down until he was sitting.

The library was now filled with books, not only journals but real books filled with colors; there was a dark aura following the girl around as if playing catch and he wondered how was it that she wasn't scared of it.

The pinkette's heart skipped a bit when he heard the humming of a tune he knew well, one that had been long forgotten but that had returned to haunt him along with the image of his dead brother…

 _I lost my way and walked alone, into a path where nothing grew,_

 _I was so scared to never find, the light to guide me by your side,_

 _The dark clouds and thunder ripped through the sky,_

 _Light and dark bringing shadow shape images alive._

It was different now… the voice singing it wasn't his brothers, nor his mother's, this was a deep low voice that sent shivers down his spine, and he didn't recognize it.

 _I should have known you'd find me there, to hold my hand and make me safe,_

 _You are my home, my friend my life, the one to always bring back my smile,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, together we will always push it away,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, we'll light the path and make our way,_

In one second, he heard the door open; the little girl was startled and fell from the couch landing on her behind, and when he blinked again the dark energy was gone.

 _"Mama!"_

 _"What are you doing? I've told you a thousand times not to enter my studio and to stop wrecking my furniture…"_

 _"I… was bored"_ He looked up scared to see the face of his grandmother, but it didn't seem as she could see him _"I do not care!... what is your job?"_

The little girl sighed _"To grow up strong… to become powerful"_

 _"That's right… you have a big responsibility on your shoulders, don't you?"_ the little girl nodded and reached out with her tiny arms to get help getting up while opening and closing her small hands.

Aporia snorted _"Get yourself up kid… no one will ever help you if you don't help yourself"_ and with that she left the room as if nothing had happened. The little girl sobbed and hugged her legs until the dark aura came back and surrounded her before pulling her up.

 _"It's ok little one"_

 _"Why is she so mean?..."_ The darkness swirled around her and ruffled her hair and pulled her in, it didn't explain but it kept singing to her.

In a second Natsu felt his head beating and moved his hand to his temple; it was almost as if the room was pulsating along with his heart and as soon as it started it went away taking all the images with him… he looked up to find the same empty room he saw first.

He stood up and patted his clothes before opening the door; Gajeel and Wendy were already outside, one with a frown on his face while the other one had a concerned expression.

"What?" Gajeel rolled his eyes and pulled him outside of the room "Anything you'd like to share?"

"I… don't even know where to begin…"

"Well is time for dinner anyways, so move… don't want to leave granny waiting for her precious child, right?"

Natsu flinched at the statement, he knew what he'd seen and now he had even more questions than before, but that wasn't it… where had time gone? He could have sworn he'd seen Levy before noon, and it didn't seem a long time had passed since then… if what Gajeel said was true then he'd been sitting in that room for hours.

The Slayers walked through the hall and once they were in the large room he was able to tell it was indeed dark outside; they approached the table in the same order than before with the exception than Mal wasn't around, something Ria didn't miss.

"Where did you leave your trust-worthy knight?"

"What? do I need to keep tags on him? He's free to do as he wishes" she smiled at him and laid her back on the chair "Shouldn't trust him so much, he is a devious creature…"

"That is rich coming from you…" there was an awkward silence on the table until Aporia spoke again "The leaders delivered the list of contestants for our games"

"Games? Jeez… I don't really care who's on it"

"You should care dearie, one of them will be your mate" He almost gagged at the sound of the word but was able to contain himself; he grabbed the paper and threw it at Helle "Here, you at least know who each of those is" she nodded and took the list from him to inspect.

"Is there something bothering you honey?" Natsu looked at Nephele with an arched eyebrow "Am… are you seriously asking that?"

Jellal shook his head and sighed "Maybe try not to chew on anyone who asks how you are doing?" Natsu rolled his eyes "Yeah yeah… am… actually…" he scratched his chin and looked up "I was wondering if you could tell me about my parents"

Everyone looked up in surprise but Nephele immediately jumped to the opportunity "Oh your father was wonderful, so handsome!… you look just like him but your eyes are rounder… softer even" she giggled "He was a handful" she pointed her fork at Helle and smiled "Just like his sister"

"Hey!" Helle blushed and lowered her face. "Oh yeah?" she nodded "Once he tried to impress your grandfather's guests by removing the table cloth without disturbing the very expensive plates on the table, which of course ended in a royal advisor and his wife covered in food and wine"

"Sounds like Flame for brains, for sure" They laughed at Gray's comment and after a second Natsu turned to look Ria straight in the eyes "What about my mother?"

Aporia returned his stare "She was precious, smart, capable and educated… everything she ought to be"

"And?" she took a deep breath "And what? I've told you she was my everything, we never left each other's side"

"Except for when she married my father, right?" he noticed the smallest frown but before she replied Nephele interrupted "Oh no, not even then… Ria knew I couldn't get close to your father, so she would visit them often, at least once a month and got me news on them… we were very surprised when they found each other"

"Weird… I don't remember you visiting" Aporia leaned on the table "You were too young" everyone could feel the tension on the table, but suddenly Natsu smiled "One more thing… that song she used to sign to us, where did she learn it?"

Aporia tapped her chin with her index finger "She made it up for me I think, one day she started singing it to herself, so it became a routine for us and became her lullaby" Natsu knew she was lying... she had first told him on the Day of Gajeel and Levy's wedding that she used to sing that song to his mother, she had said it was a story about how she had saved her from darkness, of course now Aporia didn't seem to keep up with her lies.

"Maybe she heard it from someone?" Ria shook her head "There was no one around us, I told you we were all we had" Natsu couldn't tell if she was lying or if she believed that to be true, but he knew there was much more behind the story.

He was decided to get some answers; Natsu pointed his fork towards Ria and opened his mouth to speak when suddenly his heart started pounding rapidly causing him to drop the fork which made an acute clacking sound when falling on the plate; his right hand immediately went to his chest while he tried to gasp for air.

Everyone stood up and tried to reach him, but he pushed the chair away and them with it; his knees hit the ground harshly while his first slammed on the floor.

"Natsu!" Erza ran and knelt in front of him and she could see his eyes changing to something feral while sweat dripped from his forehead, she reached out to him but before her hands touched his skin the scales started appearing along his arm and back.

His breathing became ragged while his wings popped out from his back and his long fingers grew to become claws; the painful scream that emanated from his throat was enough to shock them to their core and in a second a golden light appeared in the room revealing both Laxus and Mal along with the two exceeds with their clothes barely hanging from their bodies.

"NATSUUUU!" Happy flew and slammed against the slayer back, and the pinkette's only response was to grab his tiny paw with his larger hand.

Another scream of pain caused Happy to fly himself in front of his friend to see his face and in a second the 3 slayers were on their knees holding their heads "Natsu!"

"Something is wrong… something is wrong…" he pushed himself up and started looking everywhere for a way out while every member of the dark guilds looked at him in fear thinking he had probably lost it.

"Calm down!" Mal ran to him but was immediately slammed towards the wall "I need to go!" he pushed himself to one of the windows when he was stroke by Erza on the back, it was as if he hadn't felt a thing and it didn't stop his advances.

They all looked at each other "Ok… let's do this" Gray slammed his fisted hand against his open palm "Ice-Make… Hammer!"

"Meteor!"

"Heaven's Wheel Armor!"

"Water Slicer!"

"Solid Script! Thunder!"

The dark guilds started running for cover, but not Helle "Mama! Ria! Go with the rest to keep them calm! We've got him" she ran and stood next to fairy tail as if it was the natural thing to do "Water Cage!"

The matriarchs retrieved calmly as if this was nothing; they knew she was right, now was not the moment to let the dark guilds run in fear.

The magic streams caused immense rumbling and a few stones from the wall fell over; the explosion had taken out almost the whole wall that Natsu was trying to reach. They heard Natsu's scream and once the smoke dissipated the saw him kneeling inside the water cage, covered in black flames… the same they had seen before.

"Am… guys… my water cage is evaporating" Natsu was practically growling while his flames reached higher and higher "Stop…" they turned to Wendy who was still kneeling.

"Stop, just stop!" she rested her forehead on the floor while Gajeel attempted to stand up "He needs to go… something is wrong"

"They're right…" Mal limped his way to Natsu and knelt before him "Where do you need to go?"

"I don't… I don't know…" he grabbed his chest again and Mal felt it deep inside him "Oh no…"

"What's going on?!" Levy was holding Gajeel and stroking his arm "It's Lucy… she's…"

"I NEED TO GO!" Mal grabbed him "Where?!"

Natsu pushed him away but before he could Mal hugged him "I'll take you, I'll find her, just stop!" another wave of pain took Natsu down.

The golden knight closed his eyes and focused on Natsu's mind and heart, little by little finding a path between the confusion and darkness until he saw a mild pulse of that thin weak golden string barely tying them together.

"I've got her!" as soon as the words left his mouth the golden energy started accumulating around him; he was tired from all the power he had spent fighting Laxus and was unable to work faster than what he currently was.

The team ran towards them and barely made it in time to touch Mal before the golden light took over and send them away.

* * *

Levy blinked the fog away… everyone was on the floor coughing due to the smoke, she could barely see anything, but she felt something gooey on her hands… it smelled like blood.

The script mage heard crying and screaming and turned in confusion to see small children with their backs to the wall, she then looked the other way and horror took over.

There was Lucy with her back facing their way, laying on a rock plank without moving… her body was covered in dirt but surrounding her was the brightest golden light and fire she'd ever seen… it was flickering in an attempt to stay but failing every time.

"Lucy!" They were staring at Natsu now… his wings on full display, completely covered in scales while tears fell from his eyes, his fists were tight and shaking to the point where blood was coming out of his hands "Not again…"

There was a man thrown on the floor, shaking… half his body burnt badly with a scared look on his face. The gold and fire around Lucy flickered once more… but didn't come back this time "I was too late… again"

The slayers felt a sharp pain in their hearts "Natsu…" Laxus stood up with the little strength he had left, but his friend never turned.

"Take the kids away… care for them as if they were your own"

"Natsu…"

"TAKE THEM AWAY NOW!" they shook at his commanding voice, but Gray wouldn't let it affect him "Come with us… let us help"

"You can't help… not anymore" he was about to argue when he noticed the Slayers breaking the kids' shackles "What are you… We are not leaving him!"

Gajeel gave him an angry stare "Do you think we want to?! We can't disobey!" he turned angrily and bit his lip while pulling on the children's restrains "He's warning us… he is holding on for as much as he can…"

"What are you talking about?" Mal sighed and went to the back to help the rest "A Dragon Slayer losing his mate… he's trying to hold on to allow you all to leave before he goes completely mad"

Erza turned to Natsu but the temperature wouldn't let her get close enough "Please…"

"Thank you… for coming to rescue me… but there's nothing to rescue anymore…"

"Papa!" As soon as the restrains were off, the kids stumbled their way to Natsu and clung to his legs "I'm sorry kiddos… but you need to go now"

"NO!"

"You have to go!"

"But…"

"Miko… you are all going with them… they are family" Miko cleaned his tears with one hand "NO! We're not leaving you!"

Natsu bit his lower lip and closed his eyes "For fuck's sake! Take them away dammit!" Gajeel pulled Miko and Teiga and placed one under each of his arms, Erza pulled Calei with strength but pressed him lovingly against her chest while Mal took Neri and Adae and hugged them.

They got closer together and disappeared in a golden light with sad faces while the kids creamed and cried breaking everyone's heart, they knew the place would collapse… they couldn't stay.

To their surprise they didn't appear back at the castle but outside of a mansion that hid between two mountains blending in their natural color.

"What happened?" Mal shook his head in confusion when suddenly he felt a presence he knew well "You still have much to learn kid" they all turned and took a defensive stand immediately, covering the children but were startled when they notice Mal kneeling and bowing in the presence of the tall, red headed knight that stood before them.

"My lord! What are you doing here?"

"Giving destiny a helping hand… again" he smiled and winked at the team before disappearing in a ball of fire.

* * *

As soon as they disappeared Natsu let go… his sanity was no longer of importance. He got closer to the rock bed but didn't have the guts to turn Lucy around and see her face… he just saw the dripping blood on the rock bed staining what used to be her white blouse.

"Luce… I'm sorry"

"D-demon…" he turned with anger to the man on the floor, in any other situation he would have enjoyed the fact that Arlo was shaking on the floor but today… the pain he felt surpassed anything else.

"You've called me that before…"

"She…" he shook his head and cried from his one good eye while the tears stained his burnt flesh "Demon"

Natsu moved fast and slammed him against the floor before plunging his claws into Arlo's side effectively breaking his ribs "You took her from me…" his other hand reached out to the man's collarbone before squeezing it until he heard a breaking sound, only surpassed by the executioner's scream.

"Does it hurt? See I don't need to increase your senses to hurt you…" he dragged his sharp claws and scratched lines over the man's burnt chest and he pressed on the other side of his ribcage breaking a rib to the inside and causing the man to struggle breathing.

He lit his fist once more, allowing the dark flames to fill him but this time darkness couldn't take the pain away. Natsu was about to slam Arlo's face but he stopped and tossed him away.

His cry came from deep in his soul because he knew no matter how much he tortured that man… it wouldn't help, he'd lost her and now he wanted to be lost with her.

Natsu stood on shaky legs and walked to the stone bed… he climbed on it and laid next to Lucy, rubbing her arms up and down while he sobbed and allowed the flame to consume them both… he sang to her the same song he'd heard from his mother's lips… the one his brother had reminded him of, the one Helle had lured him in with… just as if they were simply going to sleep.

He sang and sobbed while brushing her hair, he caressed her cold skin with his fingertips while repeating the same verse over and over…

 _You are my home, my friend my life, the one to always bring back my smile,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, together we will always push it away,_

 _No matter what darkness covers the way, we'll light the path and make our way,_

The Dragon slayer slid one arm under her neck while he held her hand and pushed with full strength to ignite his fire so hard and so hot that he hoped it would burn the stars because he felt that without her… the starts were nothing; his eyes became completely dark and his mind checked out so bad that he failed to notice the man standing behind him.

Ares grabbed them both and surrounded them with his arms and fire just before the room collapsed due to the intense heat and damage that it had sustained although no one knew how it had happened.

It took only a couple of seconds for them to appear in front of a shocked ruler of the underworld "What do you think you're doing?!"

Ares smiled and winked at his uncle before rolling himself out of the way to create a fire cover, hoping to deflect some of the damage that was surely about to come their way "Docking!"

Natsu's eyes were still dark and empty and his dark flames started expanding but as soon as they touched Lucy they would become red again with strikes of gold, twirling and joining in a dance that could only be described as joyful… and in that moment Lucy took one deep breath, her eyes were still closed but her color came back.

She sighed and turned in Natsu's arms as if they were sleeping and laid her cheek on his chest and he rested his face on her head while he held her tight… a second later the energy that came from them became blinding.

Hades opened his eyes in shock before he ran and placed himself before the dark fire that rested on the bone pit, as if trying to protect it from harm, unfortunately it also caused him to receive the full blow of power on his back.

It ended as soon as it started, both Natsu and Lucy laid on the floor holding each other as if nothing had happened while Ares stood up holding his bloody arm; he walked towards his uncle, arched his brow at the dark fire and knelt.

"This… dear uncle… is what you are going up against if you decide to pursue a war against us…"

"How… what…"

"The Gods used the prophecy as an old tale to keep us in line… never did they think it would become reality, but here they are…"

Hades sat up and cleaned the blood from his mouth "This is nothing" Ares nodded and smiled "These won't heal like they normally would… have you ever wondered what being human feels like uncle? While you recover, you'll learn exactly how they feel before coming to your realm"

The Gods knew the prophecy like the back of their hands… "Children born in between land and stars, unbound by time and tight together by destiny… strong enough to balance the scales against the Gods if they chose to. A man that rises from the fire of Hell itself, and a woman with the power to make the sky explode and a heart to fit the world"

The ruler of the underworld knew then he hadn't manipulated fate… but instead had been played by it… a man that rises from the fire of hell was exactly what Natsu was…

Ares walked towards Natsu and Lucy and held them before disappearing with his precious charges leaving nothing but a red flame that eventually disappeared. Hades stood up and caressed the dark flame which seemed to wrap itself around his hand with concern.

"It seems the only way I can keep you safe is to side with him… isn't it?" The fire seemed to understand his words, it stretched all the way to his face to caress his cheek "This is my fault… I'm the reason this is happening, but if I had to do it all over again for you to exist… I would"

One single tear rolled down the pale face of the God before the dark flames evaporated it.


	40. Chapter 40

**Hi everyone! All good and peachy over here... still at home and will be until further notice as well as all fam and work team! I hope everyone is keeping safe!**

 **Today's chapter is a bit less dark, but it gives a shit lot of hints reconnecting a couple important things... just tiny hints about how it all came to happen from beginning to end, so, hopefully you remember all the story and have an "AH HA!" moment XD if you have a theory please add it to the comments.**

 **-A-**

* * *

 **"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."**  
 **― Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy**

 **"And I felt like my heart had been so thoroughly and irreparably broken that there could be no real joy again, that at best there might eventually be a little contentment. Everyone wanted me to get help and rejoin life, pick up the pieces and move on, and I tried to, I wanted to, but I just had to lie in the mud with my arms wrapped around myself, eyes closed, grieving, until I didn't have to anymore."**  
 **― Anne Lamott, Operating Intructions: A journal of My Son's First Year**

 **"The best relationships in our lives are the best not because they have been the happiest ones, they are that way because they have stayed strong through the most tormentful of storms."**  
 **― Pandora Poikilos, Excuse Me, My Brains have Stepped Out.**

* * *

 **Previously:**

The ruler of the underworld knew then he hadn't manipulated fate… but instead had been played by it… a man that rises from the fire of hell was exactly what Natsu was…

Ares walked towards Natsu and Lucy and held them before disappearing with his precious charges leaving nothing but a red flame that eventually disappeared. Hades stood up and caressed the dark flame which seemed to wrap itself around his hand with concern.

"It seems the only way I can keep you safe is to side with him… isn't it?" The fire seemed to understand his words, it stretched all the way to his face to caress his cheek "This is my fault… I'm the reason this is happening, but if I had to do it all over again for you to exist… I would"

One single tear rolled down the pale face of the God before the dark flames evaporated it.

* * *

Their feet were almost glued to the ground, or at least it felt like it… they couldn't move or react, and they simply stood there reliving the last they'd seen of their friends.

Natsu has seemed lost, broken as if someone had just clipped his wings forever and they knew someone had; they had always known she'd been his happy place, but the dept of it had been lost to them for a long time… they hadn't known how much he had suffered because he had always been the light at the end of their tunnel, and now it seemed that light had burnt itself out in desperation.

The kids were sobbing as if they understood something that hadn't sink into the adult minds because they had seen him coming out victorious of the most awful situations of imminent death, so they kept looking at the black fumes of the fire now at a significant distance, hoping for him to walk out in a blaze of fire with a smiling blond next to him.

Little by little, Erza's blank and confused expression changed, her mouth starting to curl down while her lip trembled; suddenly the fairies were blinded by a blazing ball of fire that appeared in front of them and were forced to shield themselves from the amount of heath emanating from it.

They tried to look from between their fingers but the light was too bright and made them hiss… and then it faded, they're eyes widen in surprise as they saw the man they've seen a couple of minutes before… he was even taller than Laxus, and wore a fitted golden armor which was burnt and melted in some places with some parts still red hot, although it didn't seem to bother him; some parts of his helmet were cracked from where a few stands of red hair emerged, but the most surprising part was the two bodies he held, one under each arm making them seem as small as children.

Natsu and Lucy were limp and lifeless, and again… their feet seemed glued to the ground, shock evident in their faces; the man laid Natsu and Lucy on the floor and sat on the ground grunting, his face and arm bloodied but he still kept a smile so big that it looked as if it was going to split his face in half, it shocked them to their core how much he reminded them of Natsu's prior self to the point where they took a couple extra seconds to react.

"NATSU! LUCY!" Happy immediately flew to his friends with tears on his face while the rest kept their guards up; the tiny feline touched their skin and placed his ear to their chests to make sure they were breathing "THEY'RE ALIVE! NATSU! LUCY! WAKE UP!"

Levy turned, cleared the tears from her face with the back of her hand and sniffled "They're alive?"

"My Lord!" Mal ran towards him, but Ares' waved him away "Enough fuzz, I'm fine!… the kid's got spark, uhm?" the golden knight frowned and narrowed his eyes "You're… bleeding? How…"

"I am! Exciting isn't it?"

"That's not something to be excited about!"

Erza stood up and pointed her sword directly at him before Mal slapped it away "YOU DARE?!"

"I shall not release the grip on my sword until you tell us who this is and what he did to our friends"

"What he did? He saved them you overeager…"

"Chrysomallos… stand down, will you?"

"But…"

"These are his friends, are they not?"

"They are! But…" Ares slapped his shoulder with strength causing him to move forward a little "That settles it! Now go get us something nice to drink and share with our friends, they look exhausted, also something to wrap my arm with, ok? I am, as you pointed out… bleeding" Mal nodded and disappeared, this time not with golden light but with fire.

The team kept their eyes on the man giving him a suspicious glare, while they shielded the children behind them, as promised Erza's sword didn't waver; in a matter of seconds Mal came back with a basket filled with food and a clay looking vase.

"Ms. Scarlett get that awful thing down…"

"Drink up!" Erza pointed her sword again "Not until we get an explanation"

The man gave her a crocked smile and nodded "Wow, right to the point! I like it!" the Fairy queen scrunched her nose "Very well… sit down daughter of Irene" Erza's arm wavered and she gulped "How do you…"

He waved his hand disregarding her concern "I have eyes in many places, mostly covering war bringers among the lands… your mother was a handful, kept me busy for some time" they said nothing for a couple of seconds before Ares proceeded "She wasn't always bad…Now please sit" she nodded to the rest and they sat down still taking some distance; they saw Mal removing the man's armor carefully in order to patch him up.

His arm had red vibrant marks that shone even in the dark, blood dripping from them with every piece the golden knight removed.

"You really did it this time…"

"Aw… I'm suddenly missing the "My Lord" bullcrap… show some respect kid" Mal smiled and rolled his eyes "Mhm fine… _My Lord…_ you really did it this time, and you look a bit too happy for my taste"

"Well it was pretty impressive, although next time I'll probably try to keep a bit more distance from the blast"

"You smell like him… a little" Gajeel frowned "I don't like it"

He smiled and for a second turned to see Natsu's unconscious face and sighed "Of course, although in theory he smells a little bit like me and not the other way around"

"You even look like Salamander…" everyone could tell Gajeel was uncomfortable around the man "Who are you?"

"Ares" The Iron dragon Slayer snorted and rolled his eyes while Levy blinked a couple of times "Er… you mean your name is Ares… in honor of the God of war… right?" Mal sighed while he kept wrapping Ares' arm.

"No, he means Ares, Mars, God of war, one of the 12 Olympians, son of Zeus and…"

"Blah, blah, blah, enough introductions on my side, I think I know who most of you are… but if you could please introduce yourselves properly, for the sake of formality" they all looked at Erza out of reflex and waited for her to nod.

"Erza Scarlet"

"Jellal Fernandes"

"Levy McGarden" when she noticed Gajeel was frowning with his arms above his chest she poked his ribs "Hey!... Argh…Fine… Gajeel Redfox"

"PantherLily"

"Gray Fullbuster"

"Juvia Lockser"

"I'm Carla… and this scary looking girl is Wendy Marvel" Ares smiled at Wendy and nodded.

"Laxus Dreyar"

Happy flew away from Natsu and landed on Ares' Lap before inspecting him, then he smiled and nodded "I'm Happy! Natsu's best friend!"

"Are you now? That is great to hear" Remy had been standing in the back since the very beginning too shocked to move since they had arrived to the dungeon; the sight there had been like a bucket of cold water on his actions… he'd seen Arlo's handywork on Natsu, but seeing it branding the children's skin was something he wished he could erase from his memory.

It dawned on him that he had taken everything from Natsu not once, but twice… he had involved Merryl and she had almost killed Lucy once, and he had involved Arlo who had accomplished to do the same thing, and now both the red headed woman and the sadistic man had crossed over probably to hell.

Remy took a small step forward without raising his eyes "I'm Rem…"

"I know who you are" he finally raised his face and looked at the man "Don't look surprised, I just said I keep an eye out for war bringers"

"I'm not… I don't…"

"Save it, even you should know if the God of War says you're a war bringer, the information is not for debate… the only reason why I haven't burnt you to a crisp is because you have a deal with the boy, one that I plan to respect for now… but if you cross him one more time…" Remy didn't need him to finish the thought, he nodded and took a step back in to the shadows.

It was curious for everyone… the thought of a God as powerful as Ares to respect a deal made by a mortal man, and that spoke loudly about how important the deity considered Natsu to be.

"Now I seem to notice some additions in the background?" the kids were still shaking "Come along now, I don't bite"

"I ain't s-scared of you" Miko stood up on shaky legs, barely able to hold his own weight and clearly fearful of the mountain of a man "Good, never be scared of the unknown kid, you've got spunk! I like it!"

"My name is Miko, these are Teiga, Neri, Adae and Calei" Ares observed them carefully, his smile disappeared causing everyone to shiver, the energy surrounding him was filled with rage and they could taste it in the air as the temperature around them rose dangerously once again reminding them of their friend.

"Those injuries…" Miko gulped "The one eye man… he was trying to get information from us… and Lucy" the child straightened up even if it caused him pain "We didn't give him crap, we ain't snitches" Ares' expression changed in a second to a cheerful one confusing everyone, just as soon as his mood change the temperature went back to normal.

"Oh! That guy… yeah he is d-e-a-d… dead"

"Y-you killed him?"

"Oh no, he was practically dead when I went inside, courtesy of Natsu I imagine, who knows" he shrugged "I'm sure the building collapsing on him didn't help either, hopefully he's a smudge on the ground by now"

Erza arched her eyebrow "You imagine? You can't expect us to believe you kept an eye on troublemakers but didn't keep one on that disgraceful man"

"Good catch… I kept an eye on him the best I could, but you see… there are always ways to get around such things"

"Meaning?" he pointed at each of them "Well you've been branded, Chrysomallos made sure you were not directly under the mirror of the Gods and Demons… The man you are talking about had something similar, that meant the only way for me to see, was to know who, what and where I needed to look at"

"Am… Lord… Mr. God… amm…" Wendy covered her face causing him to laugh loudly "You may call me as you please little one, any family of Natsu is my family too" Levy shook her head and stroke her temples "Lord Ares… what happened to Natsu and Lucy? I mean I'm happy they are alive but when we got there… she was…"

"Almost death, I know… he barely made in time"

"Natsu saved her?" Ares nodded "I don't think he realized when or how he did… It's simple really, they feed on each other… her body was about to give, and it called for him"

"But the place had barriers, we had tried finding her" Ares nodded again "You're right, you wouldn't have found her if she hadn't been in the verge of dying, her desperation pushed every single magic thread on her body… her call was so strong that it broke through every drop of magic that covered this place"

"That's not possible…" Levy frowned and bit her thumb, only looking up once she heard Ares' voice again "It's not, but it was… if it wasn't for their connection, they would have both died"

"So… you said you couldn't see them either, that means you don't know what exactly happened to Lucy, right?" Ares nodded "We'll have to wait for her to wake up to hear about it"

"So… she's going to wake up?" Levy's eyes filled up with tears again; Gajeel sighed and placed his hand on her back and moved it in soothing circles… he could read Ares' expression as well as he could read Natsu's which confused him a lot.

"There's no telling what will happen… the mirror of destiny became a blur when referring to these two, even making the Gods nervous… there'd been too many hands trying to weave on their threads and now there's no way for us to know"

Mal sighed "And what about you? I've never seen you bleed like this…"

"Well… once they were together the feeding was frantic… it lost control and it exploded with energy, it would have ended half a continent, and it will unless they learn how to control it"

Mal knew that no matter how big the explosion had been, it was highly unlikely for the God to get injured and that only proved one thing… Lucy and Natsu were exactly who the deity thought they were.

"Why didn't it?... end the continent I mean" Ares smiled "Oh… that…" he rubbed the back of his neck, and the simple action sent shivers down their spines… it was like staring at an older version of their friend "I took them somewhere else"

Mal sensed something in the tone that he didn't like "My lord… where exactly did you take them?"

"Oh… the only place where there was no one alive to hurt"

"Oh oh… you didn't…" the rest of the crew blinked in confusion at Mal's shocked face "Please tell me Y-you didn't take them to the underworld!?"

"WHAT?!"

"What? Is not like they were going to hurt anyone there, everyone is dead already… I mean my uncle sure… but he's a bit of an ass and deserved a bit of a lesson anyways so…"

Gray shook his head and frowned "Uncle?" The God gave him an incredulous look which made the ice mage feel small "I'm guessing ancient history is not in the curriculum in this century?"

Levy released a long breath and massaged her temples again "You mean Hades… right?"

"Oh Jeez… is not just the smirk… he's just like Flame-for-Brains… we're doomed"

"Yeah, I thought Salamander was bad"

"Juvia agrees…" everyone nodded and sighed.

"OK everyone stop! This explains nothing! Why do you smell like Natsu! And why do you smile like him and look like him and do stupid stuff like he does!" Mal flinched at Happy's irreverent tone but Ares simply laughed.

"Well… he is a part of me after all" Erza arched her eyebrow "What do you mean with that?"

"Long ago I made a deal with my sister, I believe you've met her… I promised to save her kids but adopt them as my own, she would lose them forever… I thought it was for their sake; unfortunately, her daughter died during the attack, I've heard she has since recovered her with the help of that awful woman…"

"Aporia?" he nodded at Erza "That's the one… anyways, my sons took the boy in and raised him" he noticed the confusion so he pointed at Mal "Chrysomallos and Igneel are two of my best creations, although Igneel was a Dragon so he wasn't bound to serve me, but he was a great warrior, I was sad to hear about his passing"

"So… you are Natsu's grandfather… twice" Ares blinked and nodded "I guess so… I adopted his father and granted him my gifts, and I created his foster father… so, yes, you are technically right tiny feline"

The God of war drew a circle on the air "Gather up" it soon became a fire ring that surrounded them, very much like Mal's magic and in little time they felt healed and rested.

The kids stretched their limps and noticed the pain was gone, although the scars remained, they didn't feel warm and swollen anymore.

"Why didn't you come for him?" They all looked at Gray's frowned face "His whole family died, why didn't you come for him?"

"There are many rules for us that are unknown to you… but one of the main ones is we are not supposed to manipulate fate, I broke that one several times already and determined it would be too risky to do it again"

Mal rolled his eyes and tied the bandage a bit harsher than before "OUCH… that hurts! Stop with the pouting, will you?"

"You've meddled with fate one too many times…"

The God of war grabbed Mal's hand and looked into his eyes "I know… but this one… this one is worth whatever comes our way kid" Mal sighed but nodded; he finished with the bandages and gave each a glass before filling it with the golden liquid "That ain't going to last long"

Mal shook his head and gave Gajeel a stern look "This vase will never empty you uneducated fool… you know your father was nicer than you…"

Both Ares and Gajeel spoke in unison "No he wasn't" the God of war burst in laughter "Metalicana was a harsh creature… he had a good heart though, much like you Mr. Redfox"

Wendy closed her eyes and found her voice "W-what will happen to Lucy and Natsu now?"

"That I do not know, little one… for now… you let them rest, I will not be allowed to intervene much without getting some unwanted attention… specially after tomorrow"

"Tomorrow?" He looked at Mal and smiled "Father has summoned us, I'm sure after tonight Hades will be more inclined to take our side… he took a direct hit from the magic although I don't understand why, but I don't know what will come our way" The concern in the golden knight's face was evident, but everyone decided to let it be for the time being "I will leave now, but please! Feast! Give them whatever they need from my sanctuary"

Mal bowed and nodded "Your will shall be done" Levy reached out before he could leave "Lord Ares… I apologize for my forwardness but… May I steal a couple moments from you?" he arched his eyebrow but nodded "In private"

"Levy what the hell are you doing?!"

"Just… trust me, ok?" Gajeel grunted before taking an apple from the basket and mumbling some incoherent words.

Levy and Ares stepped away; he could tell the Dragon slayer was trying to listen, so he drew a magic shield around them "What do you need?"

"It's not so much as what I need… how much do you know about Aporia?"

"She is an awful woman, drunk with power and I've never known her to be pleasant, why?"

"We… were in her space… we spoke to Alakhir and recovered some of her journals" that seemed to spike his interest "These Journals have some very disturbing information; we're mages but we've never worked with dark magic… I'm not sure what she would gain from it"

"Alakhir is alive?" she shook her head "Natsu had to…" he nodded "May his soul find the rest of his nest…" he was quiet for a couple of seconds as if trying to send a message to the universe before he looked at Levy again "Tell me about the journals" she took a deep breath "From the dragon we learnt she set the attack on Natsu's house, it was meant to kill everyone but her daughter"

"Well she is a very evil woman; she has a long pile of bodies on her back"

"Yeah… but we know her daughter did die, and it seems she went back to the house after the fact" Ares frowned in confusion "What for?"

Levy turned to her friends, she knew Gajeel was staring at her "I don't know why, but I think she took some stuff away with her"

"A little clarity would be appreciated Ms. McGarden… I am a busy man"

She flinched and bit her lip "I can't seem to get around the language yet… but I believe she went back and cut her daughter open"

Ares' eyes widen, his nose scrunched up and he crossed his arms above her chest "Are you sure of this?"

"Like I said… this language is complex, but I believe she took her daughter's heart, a bone from her leg, some hair, a patch of skin… and an eye; she put them in a marked box and took it with her"

"Why would she desecrate her daughter's body like that?" the question was more to himself than to Levy, but she still nodded before hesitantly taking a page she had ripped from the journal and showed him.

It was a drawing of a woman who resembled Nizza, she was kneeling on the floor without life in her eyes; her chest was opened like an empty drawer from which a string came connecting to a heart; there were two other drawer like holes with strings connecting with an eye and a leg bone, her hair was black a charcoal and on her left arm there was a stitched patch of skin.

"That's… doesn't make sense"

"That's not all… There are some… similarities in magic power that I consider too much of a coincidence… for what I'm able to understand, Aporia continues her writing as if her daughter was alive and praised her saying she was dotted with the power of illusion and mirrors, just like she is, and that she'd find a way for her progeny to bring those illusions to the physical plane"

"That's a dangerous power to have… a shame she did what she did but that was four hundred years ago… we know Nizza died in that attack and even if she didn't she would be death by now"

"Yeah…"

"There's something bothering you"

"Well… the next following pages have been confusing to say the least, but I've hung out with Lucy enough to recognize zodiac symbols when I see them" Levy pointed at the drawing of the box; it had the full zodiac circle painted in gold

Ares rubbed his chin and thought for a second before snapping his fingers "I know!" He stepped out of the protective circle and recovered a small piece of his shattered armor before stepping inside again; he put his hands together and moved them in circles forming a small fire ball that slowly turned the solid gold into strands until they formed a pair of golden glasses.

"There you go! These will allow you to use my knowledge in ancient languages, I'm hoping that'll make it easier to figure everything out… it's probably not something you've seen before" She smiled and nodded but he raised his hand in a stop sign "There's a catch… whatever you read with them, I'll know"

"I thought you said you couldn't intervene anymore"

"With FATE… this is just good research; also… you're not supposed to tease a God, you know?" he smiled and winked before getting rid of the protecting walls "I hope you find what you are looking for"

"Thanks…" Ares waved and disappeared into a ball of fire.

The small bluenette went back to sit with the group, they were about inquire about what had happened when they heard Natsu grunt; the group turned around, half hopeful and half fearful but he didn't wake up.

In his sleep, he skootched over and grabbed Lucy by her waist before pulling her close to his chest, she nuzzled his neck and sighed; it was instinctive really, and almost natural to see. She hummed in contempt and he moved his hand up and down her back softly until he went a bit too low and allowed it to rest on her behind.

"Jeez… even in their sleep their disgusting" Gajeel snorted and arched his eyebrow at Gray's comment "I imagine rain woman and you sleep in separate beds" Erza immediately turned to Gray giving him and unforgiving look, which caused him to raise his hands in apology "OF COURSE WE DO!"

"Juvia would never be able to sleep without Gray!" the ice mage gulped and whispered "You're really not helping my case"

"Gray… are you being disrespectful with Juvia?" he looked at Erza and shook his head "W-why are you looking at me like that! FireBreath is the one with a hand on a girl's ass! And he is NOT married to her!"

Gajeel laughed loudly "I mean technically Salamander and Bunny girl are married"

"No, they are not!" Gajeel waved his hand disregarding the comment "Dragon Law, Ice princess… she is his mate, dragons don't get married"

"Well you married me…"

"Yes, but I didn't have to"

"OH… REALLY!?" he could see Levy shaking her little fists and he laughed before pulling her to his lap and encasing her between his arms, she tried to push herself away but as soon as he rested his chin on her head she knew it was a lost cause "I hate you…"

"Nah Shrimp… you kinda love me" it took two seconds after that for Juvia to jump onto Gray's lap and pull his arms around her "Juvia wants to be held!"

He knew Erza would kill him, so he closed his eyes and waited for the imminent pain, except it didn't come; once he opened his eyes he noticed Erza observing something and the rest had followed.

His eyes moved to the place where Natsu and Lucy were resting, except now they were not alone. The five children they had rescued from the mansion like jail were sitting close to them, observing his friend's face… they seemed curious about something.

Wendy got closer and sat next to Miko with Carla following close "What is it?" he looked up at her and chewed the inside of his cheek; he didn't know these people, he'd seen their pictures from that old album at the guild, but that was about it… trust was something that came hard for him but it didn't seem to matter to Adae.

The tiny blue haired four-year-old immediately sat next to Wendy and grabbed a strand of her hair "It's blue!" Wendy smiled and giggled "Yours is too"

"But yours is sooo pretty, I wish my hair was that pretty" Juvia stood up and sat behind Adae before turning her hands into water and brushing her hair "Juvia thinks your hair is pretty too, it just needs a bit of rinsing"

The little girl looked up with big watery eyes and nodded; once done Wendy grabbed a strand of her hair "Well now we just need to dry it a bit"

"Oh, that's no trouble!" Before Wendy could use her magic, Adae stood up and got a couple steps away from her, she closed her eyes and fisted her hands summoning a wind current around her which reminded Juvia a lot of her water lock.

The fairies stared in awe as the girl levitated a bit from the ground in a circle of swirling winds for a couple of seconds and then descended slowly before giving them a wide smile "There!"

"Wow! That's was pretty incredible! You use wind magic too!?" Adae tilted her head and nodded; Wendy did a small "o" with her lips and blew, making a slow tiny current that swirl around the girl tickling her.

Juvia kept staring at the girl, she placed her index finger on her chin "Where did you learn that spell?"

"Which one?"

"The one you just did, with the wind around you"

"My wind lock?" Everyone widen their eyes at the name, not only did it look like Juvia's but the name was similar "Papa taught me!" she ran again and sat before the water mage who took the opportunity to braid her long blue hair.

Laxus was now curious; he walked closer and narrowed his eyes at the girl making her nervous "He doesn't use wind magic, how did he teach you to do that?"

"He taught all of us" Miko replied while eyeing Laxus suspiciously "And what exactly did he teach you, kid?"

Miko wasn't happy about being called a kid, he had been after all leading his new brothers and sisters so, in his head he was already grown up; he smirked at Laxus and stood up, patted his clothes and looked at Teiga.

"Do you mind?" The tall boy rolled his eyes and smiled "Not at all… any ideas?"

"Surprise me…" Gray got closer to Gajeel and whispered, "Is it just me or the kid is as cocky as Natsu?"

"Nope… not just you"

Miko walked a bit further to get some space and nodded at Teiga who already had his hands planted on the floor.

It took a couple of seconds but they could feel the ground shaking a bit, and then all of the sudden, two figures emerged from the ground and threw their fists at the kid; he immediately dropped himself on the floor and pointed up, blasting the monsters' faces, a second later a rock gollum emerged from the floor pointing his fist directly at the black haired boy; Levy and Erza ran hoping to help but when they turned the kids were just smiling and staring.

Miko raised his hand and pointed his index to the figure before taking a high jump and flipping his body to go above it, effectively shooting the creature in the back of the head, when he landed the soil wrapped itself around his feet.

"HEY!"

"You said surprise me!" Miko pointed both his index fingers to the ground and shot far enough from his feet to avoid hurting himself, successfully breaking the ground around him. He smiled again and blew on his fingers as if they were two guns before putting his hands in his pockets pretending to put them away.

"Not bad kid" Laxus smiled "What about the rest?" Neri jumped to her feet and stomped on the ground, suddenly a vine grew from below her foot all the way to Lucy and Natsu before surrounding them with red and pink flowers.

Juvia clapped a couple of times, amazed by the beauty of the girl's magic while the blond lighting mage frowned "That's pretty…" it didn't please Neri who narrowed her eye and stomped again which he thought was nothing more than a tantrum before the vine got to his neck and wrists and pulled him to the floor "Ok, ok… I'll let that pass for now"

Levy and Erza laughed behind him causing him to growl. The sky Dragon Slayer looked at the young small boy who sat the closest to Natsu and stared at him intently "What about you?"

Calei sighed, he sniffled and skootched until he was laying his back on Natsu's then he laid on the floor "Cai? You ok?"

"Yeah…" Miko sighed too and laid next to the child before pulling him in for a hug "It's ok…"

"No it's not…" everyone, including the fairies got closer trying to figure out what he meant "Cai? Did you see something?" the brown-haired boy nodded.

"He gave up… right when he sent us away"

"Well… yeah but he is back"

"I think he felt relieved… about giving up" The children remained silent for a second before Jellal stepped in "Natsu never gives up, look I know it may seem that way but…"

Cai sat up and stared right at him with his faded eyes "You harbored hate, it's almost gone now but a little bit it's still there" Jellal took a step back, he opened his mouth to speak "I…" the words didn't come out as they usually did, so he got closer to the kid and sat close "A little… yes, how do you know?"

"I don't see very well… but…" he raised his hand and placed it on Jellal's chest before pushing his magic. The Blue haired mage gasped when he felt the energy swirling through his body and in a second a miniature projection of the tower of heaven appeared before them "I see what people can't"

"I-impressive…"

"And Salamander showed you all how to use your magic?" The kids nodded at Gajeel and he shook his head "How the fuck did he manage to do that?"

Miko shrugged "He told us stories… he told me he knew a couple with the best aim in the land"

"And he told me about a girl who could make projections and illusions"

"He pushed us to train, and told us to keep doing it even if he wasn't there… and we did" Miko stared at his hand and closed it a couple of times "But, it's different now… something changed… I feel stronger"

It dawned on them then… he had used them as an example, he had talked about what they could do and pushed them to be creative but he had never forgotten about what he'd seen from them, it held much more meaning than what the kids knew of.

Wendy teared up a bit "Wow…" Adi reached out and cleaned one of her tears "Why are you crying?!"

"Oh nothing! It's just… he's pretty awesome, isn't he?" the child smiled and nodded.

"Ok enough with the sentimental crap! What are we going to do?" Remy spoke from behind, making Gray turn "We wait… they need to rest, once they do we'll take them back to the manor, we'll have to separate them when we get there" they all cringed a bit, separating them seemed wrong now that they saw how contempt they seem in each other's embrace but they knew it had to be done.

They built a fire and sat around it while the kids laid close to Lucy and Natsu and took a nap, a couple hours later a glimpse of golden flickered and Loke appeared on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"L-Lucy!"

"Shhhhhh they are trying to sleep" he looked at Levy and sat "Where the hell have you been?"

"I… couldn't… cross" he sighed and gulped "I tried… we all tried"

"Makes sense… they were blocking her magic again"

"For a second there we thought she had died" he rubbed his forehead and sighed once more "For a second there… she did" Mal walked towards Loke and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder "She's ok now"

The zodiac leader slapped his hand away and scrunched his nose "She is not… and you know it, you've known it for some time now"

"Ah… so your time above helped you clear some stuff out, who figured it out?"

"Crux… and The Spirit King" Mal nodded "Of course they did"

"What is he talking about?" Both spirits stared at Erza, then at each other and back at her "Am… well Erza you see…" the golden knight bumped Loke's side "Nothing we need to worry about now"

"I think you've hidden too much from us already, you better start talking"

Mal cleared his throat "It's too complicated to explain, and I'm not sure how aware Natsu is right now… we need to focus on how to do what he asked us to do and I'm afraid anything I say now could derail you from the task at hand"

She took a deep breath and nodded "Is her life at risk?"

"Less than yesterday"

"Is this information relevant to saving her life?" he shook his head "This would make no difference in our ability to keep her alive, but it could influence your emotional state during the assignment"

"Fine…"

They gave him a couple more hours before transporting to the castle; they had to practically rip Lucy from Natsu's arms to pull them away, taking her from his bed had been a challenging task to say the least, but eventually they were able to take Lucy to one of the other rooms.

Mal made sure she was wearing the necklace now, although he kept the ring hidden to avoid issues with the dark guilds; with the close proximity and the necklace around her neck, he knew she would be able to gather enough energy to sustain herself without risking their mission.

"I'll stay with her"

"Leo… she needs to recover her energy, if you stay for too long…"

"I opened my own door as soon as I was able to break through… How long I stay it's irrelevant to her health"

"Fine… keep an eye on her"

"Like you have to ask…"

Mal sighed heavily knowing it would be a long day; the spirit rarely got anxious anymore, he had learnt to live with his sadness and the weight that he carried on his conscience but today was just one of those days…

He didn't know how many times he would be able to see Natsu's face paling, or feel his heart about to give, how many times would he be able to push through his charge's sad face knowing that it was all his fault; in his mind he had managed to get the boy he almost raised… one of his only friends… killed, he had been sulking for so long that his friend's elder son has gone mad and died because he had no one to rely on… and now… he had managed to set the one remaining son in the same tortuous path…

Mal went straight to the grand hall and noticed the kids were sitting there eating, just where he had left them, and he thanked the Gods that chasing them down wouldn't be another thing on his plate today.

"Hey there! All good?" they didn't respond right away, and they seemed a bit uncomfortable, angry even and that's when he noticed a small orange head missing from the table "Where's your sister?"

"Shower…" Teiga was fisting his hands underneath the table "Did something happen?"

"When does something not happen in this place?"

"Uhm… ok, point taken… why don't you all go take a shower, you need to remove all that dirt from you before Natsu wakes up"

He knew once Natsu was up and passed the shock of being alive he would want to make sure they were all right and while he couldn't do much about the scars he could at least put him at ease by letting him know they were in good conditions.

Neri was out of the shower already when they entered the room, she was sitting on one of the beds and Mal noticed all placing their hand on hers before pacing and entering the other room.

"Amm… Mal?" he turned to look at a now clean looking Neri "Can I get a different shirt?" he looked at the child and frowned, inspecting her for a second "What's wrong with the one you are wearing Ner?"

"I… want one with a hood… or maybe a cape or a hat? to cover my hair" his eyes soften, and he knelt in front of her "It will grow back, you know?"

"I know… but… can I get one… please?" he sighed and nodded, his father had helped heal the physical scars, he had cleaned them up, and they had been fed, but the emotional scars that had been left behind was something he knew he wouldn't be able to heal.

He felt self-conscious, angry and ashamed… their games had caused for these children to suffer and he knew if they had just left everything be, if they had left Natsu alone they wouldn't have gone through what they did… better yet, if he had remained at Phrixus' side, everything would have been different.

"Don't be sad" he turned to look at Cai who has putting on his dark goggles; Mal sighed, at this point he knew that lying to the child would be of no use "I… think I should apologize"

Both kids looked confused "You shouldn't have been involved in all of this" Cai shrugged and sat next to Neri "I'm kind of happy we are here… I mean… I don't know about the rest but I'm sure I would be dead by now if we hadn't"

"Cai… if you had stayed home…"

"I wouldn't have never learned magic! And my parents would have probably left me on the side of the road!" Mal flinched; he knew the kids didn't have the best background so either way things wouldn't have been the best, but whether their situation had been better than know, he would never know.

* * *

Natsu scrunched his nose and frowned making his eyelids close tightly, why oh why did he have to wake up? He felt as if he have had the most delicious dream in months, as if for some time he had been able to feel the warmth of her skin, smell her sweet lavender and vanilla scent, brush her soft hair and just… breath her in entirely… but he knew that was his mind playing tricks.

He rolled himself onto his belly, and felt something furry breathing close to him "Hmm… Happy" he grabbed the pillow next to him and hugged it, he sighed heavily and his heart stopped, suddenly being very aware of the two things that seemed out of place… the fur and the smells.

The pinkette hugged the pillow tighter and it smelled… exactly as vanilla and lavender, he kept smelling the pillow while slowly opening his eyes that landed on his blue best friend and he felt panic inside his chest; he pushed himself up a bit and looked at this bed knowing that he had gone mad this time, there was no other explanation… that was until his eyes landed on one single hair… a long… shiny golden one on his bed.

It took about two seconds for the memories to start flooding his head, she was dead and so was he, or at least he should. Panic invaded him, he knelt on the bed and looked around before flinging himself off so quickly that his face hit the floor waking Happy from his slumber.

"Natsu!"

"Woah, calm down, deep breaths" Mal appeared in front of him and held his shoulders "I… She… we… what…", he heard the several sets of footsteps on the aisle and then the door opening, the golden knight shook his head and waved his head asking the rest of the nest to leave which they did begrudgingly.

Once outside Laxus rested his back on the door and held his hand to his heart "Fuck… does it always feel this bad?" Gajeel snorted "Sparky… that wasn't a bad one, welcome to our nightmare"

"Yeah, it's pretty bad being this close, but this wasn't as bad as when his heart stopped"

"When his… what the hell is happening here?" Gajeel slapped his shoulder with strength "There's a lot we need to talk about… let's go somewhere a bit less crowded"

Back inside the room Mal could feel the slayer's temperature rising, his fast heartbeat, he saw his pupils going from side to side "Breath… listen" he grabbed Natsu's face and forced him to look right at him "She is alive, ok?"

"She is alive" Mal nodded and smiled while Happy flew and hugged Natsu from behind "S-she is alive" Natsu took a deep breath "She… she is alive?"

"Miss Lucy is sleeping now, she is ok, we've been checking on her" Natsu stood up and walked to the door but before he could open it, Mal pressed his hand on it "I asked you before if you were going to be able to fool her… what did you say then?"

The pinkette laid his forehead on the door "I said I had to…"

"That's right… you said you had to… now, if you want to run towards her and end this charade I'll be the first one to offer my services to take you both away, leave all of this behind forever" He knew that wasn't the plan, but his own pain and regrets seeped through his words before he had time to react; Natsu turned around and rested his back on the door.

Happy landed before him and placed his paw on the slayer's knee "Sounds like a good plan if you ask me!"

"I can't…"

"Natsu…"

"Look man, I get it… I want to I really do… and if I knew less than what I know now maybe I would take you up on it" he patted Happy's head and gave him a sad half smile.

"What you know doesn't matter! I'll take you somewhere far and…"

"And eventually someone will find us and our children, and send I don't know… a dragon, a wizard, a God or a demon to end us?"

"You two are not your parents; this time I would stick around and make sure you are safe!" Mal grabbed Natsu's shoulders and shook him "I won't make the same mistake twice! I won't let them hurt you Phrix!" he closed his eyes and laid his head on Natsu's shoulder as soon as the words left his mouth.

The dragon slayer sighed and grabbed Mal by his arms before pulling him away, he placed his right hand on Mal's face "And here you are saying we are not like my parents"

"I…"

"He didn't die because of you, and neither will I… I will die because of me and my stupid ass decisions, and before I do you need to promise me you'll break our contract"

"I won't… I won't do it"

"My father wanted you to live your life… and so do I"

"My life is committed to you, what do you expect me to do?! To walk away and live a sad pathetic existence knowing I outlived my charges?! TWICE!?"

"No… I expect you to take Helle away, I expect you both to learn to live without this awfulness around you… to move on and just… live" Mal looked away causing Natsu to smile sadly "I've seen you two… just go for it while you still have time… take it from the world's authority on waiting too long" Mal sniffled and cleaned his face with the back of his hand "I thought you were supposed to be dense"

"And I thought you were supposed to be the one taking care of me, and not the other way around"

"And what am I supposed to do!?" Happy had tears on his eyes "You'll be in charge of taking care of Lucy… she's a clutz remember? She'll need someone to watch over her"

Happy knew the plan was not to let him die, but Carla and Lily had warned him to stay silent about it, they had said Natsu wouldn't understand and he knew they were right. They stayed in silence for some time, in a type of peaceful sadness, the type that takes over once you've settled your mind on something even if it's bad, at least is not uncertainty.

"Mal… the kids?" he nodded and took a deep breath "They're ok… I mean whatever happened there caused some damage that we may never be able to fix… but they're "ok" I guess"

"Call them… call everyone" Mal left the room surrounded by golden lights as he generally would, and a couple minutes later his door was opened revealing the five children he'd been looking for along with the rest of his friends, with one dreaded addition.

"Laxus…"

"Natsu…"

"I'm glad Mal and you didn't kill each other" he smiled and scratched the back of his neck "Look man I…"

The lighting slayer raised his hand and shook his head "Save it… I'm not the right person to judge temporary insanity" they both smirked and nodded; the pinkette knew, that the man standing before him would be the last to ask for an explanation, after all, he had been on the other end of the spectrum and came back from it with flying colors.

"Am… have they told you what's happening?" the blond mage nodded "Just a little bit… for the record, I think you are an idiot, this is a stupid plan and you deserve a good beating… but I will follow along… for now"

"I would appreciate it" his attention immediately switched to the nervous kids standing before him, he took a couple steps and knelt in front of Miko before flicking his forehead "What did I say about looking down, uhm?"

The dark haired pre-teen looked up, his eyes filled with tears while he bit his lip and in a second he jumped to Natsu's arms causing him to tumble and fall on his behind, the rest of the kids followed after that towering on top of the Dragon slayer.

"Woah, ok ok, I am happy to see you too, but a little breathing space would be appreciated!" they sat up and cleaned their now smiling faces. Cai stood there for a couple seconds observing him… something was different since last they saw him and for him it was as clear as day.

"Ok… I see two arms, two legs, ten fingers and two eyes on each of you, so… what happened?" Mal flinched "Natsu, I think it's best if we…"

"I know Arlo was there… so… what's the damage" Miko chewed the inside of his cheek before nodding and lifting his shirt causing Natsu's eyes to widen; he felt a hole in his chest at the sight of the mark on the child's side.

He reached out towards the scar but stopped before brushing it "It doesn't hurt anymore…"

"That mother…"

"Language…" Erza slapped the back of his head out of habit. Each kid started to show their scars causing every adult in the room to flinch, they could see by the amber marks on Natsu's eyes that his anger was increasing every time he saw something new, that is until he turned to Neri who refused to remove her cape.

"Neri… show me"

"I don't wanna"

"Why? What… what did he do?" she lowered her face and whispered "Nothing… I'm fine"

They were planning to stop him; every single person in Fairy Tail knew… Natsu was a great fighter, he could lead a complete army into battle and had a heart of gold, at least before…. but saying the right thing at the right time was not his forte and now they believed it would be even worse… which is why they were surprised when he pulled her hand with a sweet gaze "Hey now… look at me"

She stared into his eyes for a second then turned away "You know you can tell me anything"

The orange haired girl sighed and whispered "I… don't wanna show you because I look ugly" he snorted and pulled her to his lap "You crazy?! You are frigging gorgeous, and that's not even the best part of you"

"It's not?" she looked up at him with watery eyes "Of course not, you are capable, and smart, and ingenious… and you create beautiful things and flowers no one has ever seen before… you are magic, pure magic! do you understand that?"

She nodded and reached out to her cape with shaky hands before removing it completely and Natsu's eyes widen with pain while looking at the diamond like net on her shoulder; the child closed her eyes and allowed some tears to fall from her face.

"I… I look like an ugly boy!" Natsu gasped and grabbed her face "Why would you say that!? You know I actually like it… you look like a Pixie!" she frowned "What's that?"

He smiled, one of those big million dollar smiles that they hadn't seen him show in months now and all the kids widen their eyes in surprise… this was the first time they'd seen him with such a big smile on his face "Oh well let me tell ya" he raised his index finger and got his face closer to hers "A Pixie is a tiny magical creature that lives in the woods" she skootched over more and looked at him in amazement "It's funny, I mean I've heard their magic is connected to nature… so maybe you are a pixie after all!" she giggled and hugged him.

"You think so?" he rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes "Well… you're very tiny, and you make plants grow and you have pixie hair… wait a minute" he tickled her back causing her to giggle "Papa, what are you doing?"

"Looking for your wings, I'm sure I heard Pixies had wings" there was a sense of calmness and happiness that invaded everyone in the room, he was smiling and making someone smile and that was the most Natsu thing the had seen in a long time.

"Now why would you think you look like an ugly boy?" he pointed as his friends "There are many ugly boys in this room and you look nothing like them" the guys smirked and shook their heads finding his antics to be something they missed dearly.

"They told me I did…" something flickered in Natsu's eyes and everyone flinched, happy moment over in the blink of an eye "They?..." Neri nodded "Who's they?" she shrugged "It doesn't matter…"

"Like hell it doesn't…" he sighed and turned to the rest "Leave us… kids you stay"

"Natsu! Can I stay too?" he smiled at Happy and nodded, the blue feline immediately flew above his head while constantly moving his tail left and right.

No one dared to go against his wishes, he had proven he was fit to handle the situation and they could sense he was in no mood to argue, so, they stepped away to give them some privacy.

"Now let's see…" he lit his fingers on fire and smiled "Do you trust me?" he waited for her to nod and then brushed his fingers through the ends of her hair a couple of times making it stand in spikes "There we go! Look at that"

The kids smiled, he pulled her up and walked to the bathroom; Natsu made her stand on the sink so she could face he mirror "Woah! Her hair looks just like yours Natsu!" Happy's excited tone made the girl giggle once more.

"Do you like it?" she nodded and smiled "Very well… now for the finishing touch!"

* * *

The team and Remy were sitting in Erza's room with Lucy laying on one of the beds; it was oddly calming and reassuring to look at her breathing with a small smile on her lips.

"He seems different, doesn't he?"

They nodded "It's like we're seeing a completely different person from when we got here… he looks less… am…"

"Troubled… less troubled is what you are going for Ms. McGarden…" Remy had been keeping his eyes on Lucy since they got into the room.

"And you look even more troubled… what's on your mind?" He turned to Erza with a quizzical look on his face and then returned to observe Lucy breathing in and out "I don't need your pity, I'm fine with everyone keeping to Natsu's deal"

Gray rolled his eyes at him "You don't get it, do you?"

"What's it there to get? I tried to kill him, and I almost killed her… all because I blindly followed a man who I taught was a saint, you're entitled to hate me"

"Yeah, so I would risk to say there's more than a couple of us who had tried that in the past" Remy turned to look at them then "Please, whatever stupid arguments you guys had are FAR from a murder attempt" he noticed them scrunching their noses or scratching their chins.

Jellal cleared his throat "I… uhm… I tried to kill them and Erza once… or twice" Remy looked at the blue haired man with widen eyes, then back to Erza when he heard her hum "Hmm no wait I'm sure that was 3 times…"

"Were they?" Levy nodded "Wait does Nirvana even count? He ended up helping" the red headed woman rubbed her chin "Let's say 2.5 just to be sure"

Remy couldn't believe he was listening to them discuss their attempt of murdering each other with such ease.

Gajeel snorted "I call your murder attempt and raise it! I joined the fucking guild after destroying it, kidnapping bunny girl, beating the shit out of her, and trying to kill Salamander" Gray pointed his finger at him "Let's not forget you also beat the crap out of Levy, Jet and Droy!"

"Wait what? But she is your wife!" Remy was shocked to say the least "Gray! We don't talk about that anymore! And I wasn't his wife back then… obviously"

"Sorry Lev…"

"Plus, Juvia tried to kill you too…"

"True…"

"Juvia would die for Gray!"

"WE NOW!..."

Erza turned to Laxus signaling him to continue, he grunted and rolled his eyes "I tried to electrocute Magnolia and Kill everyone at the guild… are we done sharing?"

"Well I have never tried to kill any of you!" Wendy clapped in excitement causing Levy to laugh "Me neither!"

"That makes 3 of us"

"Oh really? You and Natsu tried to kill each other during our fight with the Alvarez empire"

"Hey! That's not… how it happened…" Juvia giggled and poked his side "Ok… maybe it's a little bit how it happened"

Remy was completely lost in the information and didn't quite understand how they worked together "So… how do you even trust each other after that?"

"It's just who we are, people make mistakes and that doesn't mean they don't deserve a second chance, of course, redemption and paying dues is required but Fairy Tail doesn't turn their back on people"

It stroke him then; the dragon slayer had given Merryl every chance to walk away, sure, he had been mean to her plenty of times but she had gain that treatment and even then he had taken her back to Fairy Tail… and he had asked over and over for her to stay away and she had refused and gone mad beyond help.

Natsu could have killed him, many times, after he killed Merryl, during the time he was locked in Aporias space, when he got him out the first time… there had been chances, and still for some reason he had decided to spare him.

He wondered if maybe Natsu thought he deserved a second chance, if maybe he saw more in him that what he saw himself, and he made a silent promise to live enough to find out.

"He's a very unique individual, isn't he?" they smiled at him and nodded "He's a child at heart and will befriend anyone whether they want him to or not" he took in Levy's words, he had said he would never want to be friends with someone like him but now he wasn't so sure… what type of person would take to cause an entire guild to prefer being shunned than to give up on them?

Remy remembered the trial, every single guild had been present there, facing the council, letting the highest power know that they would not stand by them if that one mage went down, making a statement that they were not afraid, and letting them know that they were the ones that should fear them… he knew, the only reason why so many people would risk their lives like that would be for someone who was more than worthy, loved and important and he wondered how someone became that way…

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door; Mal winked at them "Showtime… get in place people"

They walked outside of the room and saw Natsu standing there along with the five children, Natsu wore a tight dark red leather vest, and black pants with black combat boots, and the kids wore similar outfits.

"You forming a boy band Salamander?" Natsu snorted and pointed at the kids "Even you can't be that dumb metal breath…"

"Juvia gets it! She pointed at Miko first, black vest like guns or gunpowder, dark brown for soil, dark blue for wind magic, dark green for plants and…" she pointed at Calei who wore a dark gray vest "Juvia is not sure about that one"

Natsu smiled "Shadows, he's pretty good at hiding in plain sight, aren't you Cai?" the shy kid nodded and smiled "Very well… let's walk" they started to follow while he softly spoke at them "Follow along, no questions asked… whatever happens please remember we're not killing anyone… yet"

"What are you planning?"

"No questions asked… just go with it" as soon as he finished his statement they arrived at the end of the aisle where the dark guilds were set on their tables for lunch, and once Natsu stepped in they all quiet down so much that a fork falling on the floor would echo around the room, and when the team turned… the kids were gone.

"Oh, I see you've decided to join us dear"

"Well, a man's gotta eat" Aporia smiled at him; Natsu walked but not to the table, he approached the big throne in the front and sat down while resting his elbow on the armrest and his chin on his hand.

One of the guild leaders stood up and bowed "I take that you are feeling better, my lord?"

"Much… renewed actually… although I must admit I was a bit upset this morning" his wicked smile was back, everyone except for Laxus was used to it by now but he remained calm and quiet.

It happened in a second… kids laughter echoed through the hall causing everyone to turn to look at every corner, but there was nothing there. The ground trembled causing the glasses to fall and spill their contents on the wooden tables.

The trembling became so loud that they could see dust coming up from the ceiling until it was suddenly ripped apart; they all covered themselves to avoid the debris, but once they looked up, pure panic invaded their brains.

A gigantic golem was looking at them from above and reaching inside with his enormous hand while people ran in panic, the ones that got far enough were pulled back again by spiky vines coming out of its fingers and as soon as they were grabbed the spikes would tear their skin causing blood to trickle from their limbs; Erza pulled out her sword while the rest got ready for battle, but before they could more forward Mal extended his arm to stop them and pointed at Natsu.

He was still sitting on his throne, an amused smile on his face while Aporia summoned her magic to try to protect herself "Ria! We need to help"

"Are you an idiot?! Let it have them!" Elle looked at her for a second and frowned before marching towards what looked to be a battlefield.

"NATSU DO SOMETHING!" she looked at him through the corner of her eye and saw he had no intention to stop the madness and immediately covered herself with a thick purple orb, and when she did… something flickered in Natsu's eyes.

He turned to Mal and nodded before he continued observing the entirety of the dark forces struggling for survival.

The enormous golem roared with the strength of an explosion and a second after shot sharp projectiles from its mouth; they could feel his warm breath and the stench of humid soil coming from it while blood from their comrades surrounded them.

When the shard projectiles reached them, the screams of pain invaded the room causing even more panic, they barely had time to summon their magic; some of them threw energy spheres, shards or weapons but nothing had an effect of the Titan in front of them.

It ended a second later, death silence filled the room… people were cowering under tables or laying on the floor in fetal position trying to cover their bodies as much as possible, but there was no golem, the ceiling was still in its place, the glasses still full on the tables, no blood, no death bodies… nothing but a couple of children sitting in the middle of the room with miniature versions of what they've seen.

Cai was laying on his belly and resting his face of both hands while Teiga moved a hand size soil looking golem, Neri giggled and moved her fingers to create the vines, Miko shot tiny shards of energy with his index… so tiny that they would barely marked the floor and Adi blew her warm breath on the figures making the tiny ruble and shard fly.

"W-what…" The guild leader stood up on shaky legs and looked around "W-where is it?..."

"Like I said… I was a bit upset this morning… furious really and thought seriously about setting the place on fire with every one of you inside"

There were a few startled looks, but no one dared to move "But, I decided than instead I would allow for a lesson in respect to be taught"

"My lord?" The intellectual looking guild leader whose name Natsu didn't care to remember took a step forward "You see, I'm all about family… and it has come to my attention that three members of your guilds took it upon themselves to make one of my children cry today"

Aporia released herself from her sphere with a mad look on her face, she took a couple steps towards Natsu and pulled his wrist " _Those_ are not your children, those are some bastards that you picked along the way"

"Oh… so by your logic my father was a bastard? And of course, I am one too?"

"This does NOT justify the shit you just pulled!"

"Oh but I didn't do a single thing… did I?"

"This is unbelievable! Those children DO NOT belong here"

"They shall be treated as mine, get all the benefits that come with it or else"

The guild leader was still shaken by the events, but took a shaky step forward, not daring to look Natsu in the face "Are you saying you would favor them before a child of your own blood in the succession?"

Natsu walked slowly towards the man, making him shiver even more, and lighting his first on fire; the first thing his friend's noticed was that his fire was back to dark red instead of black "Believe me… if any of them were able to fairly defeat any children that I make… they'll deserve the chair"

The man gulped and looked the slayer in the eye "Unless any of you want to fight them for that right… what you see may have been an illusion, but they just showed you what they could do with little to no effort… it was a kids game after all"

The kids looked pleased, a cocky smile on their faces that caused everyone to look down; they had considered them weak, meaningless and ordinary… they had underestimated them and paid the price in front of their demon king and had now nothing to show for.

"Very well, since no one has questions… we will take our lunch to go, planning a war requires silence and full bellies!" he turned around and grabbed his plate, the rest of his team followed his example and walked away until reaching his bedroom and once they were inside he burst in laughter and stretched his fist to the children to bump.

"That was freaking awesome!"

"Don't encourage them! What the hell was that!?" Natsu flashed his huge grin to them "That was genius, that's what it was!"

"Salamander how the fuck did they do that? They haven't been using magic for that long, have they?"

"Nope! But Cai… seriously that was pretty impressive, are you tired?"

"Am… kind of… a little maybe?" Natsu picked him up and sat him on one of the chairs "You need to eat, you used a lot of energy, a bit too much maybe?" he touched the kid's forehead "Wen… am…"

Wendy smiled and knelt before Cai, she placed her hands on his chest and showered him with her healing magic and she could see the boy's expression changing immediately.

"So… to answer your question, I didn't actually know if they could do it, I thought they would pull a tiny prank really… and I thought each would use their own power, didn't know they would be using mostly Cai's" he turned to the kids and narrowed his eyes waiting for them to reply.

"Well pops… amm…" Miko rubbed the back of his neck "We were going to! But when Cai hid us we thought of doing something different… you know… go big or go home"

"And I understand, but when you use magic you need to be very aware of your capabilities kid… you guys haven't been using magic for that long… amm… think of it as a muscle ok?" the kids nodded "When you do lots of exercise it grows and you become much stronger, yeah? So, if you don't train and try to pick up some heavy weights what happens?"

"Am… you get crushed?" he smiled and nodded "That's right, so what would you have done if Cai got in trouble for using too much magic?" the kids turned to Cai and back at Natsu "W-we didn't think about it! We're sorry"

"Hey I said I could do it!"

"And you did, and it was a pretty impressive illusion, I got worried for a second there until I heard you all laugh… but you still need to promise you'll keep training, ok? Mal will check on you from time to time"

That caused a lot of confused stares at Natsu's way, he thought he had been smooth about it but even then, he wouldn't have been able to prevent the reaction.

"You are sending us away again?!" The slayer flinched at Miko's tone "Look man… it's for your own protection"

"Well that worked like a charm the first time, uhm!?"

"Arg… It WON'T be like the first time ok?!" Natsu rubbed his forehead "Mal will take you with gramps directly and you will be safe there"

"No" Natsu widen his eyes and open his mouth of couple of times before he was able to speak "No? What ya mean no? It wasn't a question!"

"We're not leaving, you did it your way once" Mal walked closer to the kids and knelt "Look I promise it won't be bad, ok?"

"Well I don't care! We're not leaving her here!" there was silence in the room for a couple of minutes while the wheels turned in everyone's head. Adi stomped her foot and puffed her cheeks "We're staying papa!"

Natsu was frowning like a child now "What if I say no?!" the kids' expression changed to a sad one and he felt like punching himself in the face for being the one that caused it "Look… I'm sorry… she's going to be ok, and once she is ok we'll take her back with you, ok?"

"You don't get it…" the pinkette looked at Teiga as he sat on the floor and rested his back on the wall "She was waiting for you, we all were… she knew you were coming to get us, she trusted you and she never left us"

Gajeel grunted and whispered to Levy "Not that she had much of a choice now did she?" the bluenette pinched his side causing him to wince "Is not like that… I mean… she was there for us"

Natsu took a deep breath and sat next to the boy "Tell me…"

"She sang to us, kept us distracted with things she wanted to add to her book… she told us stories from when you met and about your missions… she was struggling to keep herself awake but she managed when she knew we were scared…"

Natsu sighed and brushed his hair with his right hand… it sounded like something his Luce would do "And then Arlo got to her… he wanted to hurt her… bad" the boy's eyes started watering and the slayer felt his heart sinking deeper "W-what happened then…"

The child sniffled "He smashed her on the table and tried to hit her but she rolled to her side to cover herself… so he kept smashing her on the table! He hit her so much! When she didn't move he started walking towards us… he said she was going to watch us die"

"Tei… I…" he had no words to share with the child, just imagining Lucy being hurt like that made his blood boil and now he wished instead of losing his ground he had taken his sweet time to rip him apart limp by limp "He barely made it two steps away from her before everything happened…"

Laxus stepped closer and sat on one of the chairs "What exactly happened?" the kids looked at each other, confusion written all over their faces "We… don't really know"

"Maybe I can help?" Natsu looked at Remy and bit the inside of his lip "I… don't know if they should relive that"

"Is that it… or do you really don't want to see if yourself?"

"Watch yourself…" the former council man sighed "Look… I know it will be hard for you but we still need to figure out what happened to her"

"And she will tell you when she wakes up!"

"If she wakes up" Natsu stood up and grabbed Remy by the neck "Natsu!" Wendy hugged him from behind "Please just… it'll be much easier to help her wake up if we know what happened to her, ok?" he released Remy and sighed, knowing they were right but still unwilling to go through that.

"Do whatever you want…" Remy started with Miko, then Teiga and the images were as painful as Natsu had thought they would be, the fear, the cuts, the torture the screams and the moment where Shiro had appeared and taken something from the boy… it all seeped into him but the moment they would reach the part where Lucy was being slammed on her back, and every time he saw her head bouncing on the table… that just broke something inside even more.

"Can we stop this?! This is taking us nowhere! As soon as that piece of shit ass walks away everything goes too bright! They didn't see what happened after!"

"I kind of saw it" Natsu looked at Cai who was still munching on some of the things from his plate "I mean… I didn't _see_ it… but I did"

"But you guys had anti-magic shackles" the child nodded "Yeah… I don't know how it happened but when it did it was as if they didn't work anymore"

Miko shook his head "That doesn't make sense, we were all there" Levy bit her thumb and snapped her fingers "Maybe he's the only one that noticed because he doesn't have to do anything to use his magic!"

"That makes sense…" Erza paced I the room trying to put her ideas in place "The kids need to do something to use their magic, like me summoning my swords or armor, of Juvia using water… but Calei doesn't have to do anything… just see"

Mal nodded "Lord Ares did say her magic had been so strong that she had broken through the magic seals… maybe she broke their restrictions too?"

Natsu rubbed his face with both hands and grunted "Can we just get this over with?..." he didn't know how much his heart could take; he wished he was able to allow the darkness to seep it and numb his senses but since he had woken up that had been impossible…

He felt as if his soul had decided to argue with him stubbornly, simply rooting itself to one thin thread and refusing to move and he knew that was all Lucy's doing… she was too close, so close that he could smell her on his friends and staying away from her was eating him alive.

Remy walked towards Cai and notice the child was nervous "This won't hurt, ok?" he waited for him to nod before summoning his magic and what they saw both calmed and terrified them.

Cai hadn't seen much of anything during their time there… it was dark, he had no magic there so everything was either a blur or a shadow, the sounds seemed even more acute in his memory and Natsu felt even worse…

The child had been terrified, now knowing who Arlo was taking until he heard the screams, not being able to move because he was the only one hanging from the wall, not being able to cuddle his friends or sooth them after being subjected to such treatment.

The kids had taken turns… when Cai had said he could barely feel his arms anymore, they had sat below him and used their shoulders to sustain him a bit until his arms stopped tingling, he had heard Lucy's soothing voice calling out to them and telling them stories, trying to make them laugh, and he wondered if they would have ended up in this situation if he hadn't been around, if they hadn't met him…

They soon came to the portion they were waiting for, the sounds of Lucy screaming in pain, Arlo's raspy voice and then a couple of steps, and suddenly it was as if the lights turned on for the boy.

It was weird to look at it from his perspective; there was some strange energy that moved from Lucy, like a wave, not dark or light, just a wave that reminded Natsu of his desperation in the bathtub when the droplets of water fell from his fair onto the water and rippled.

Natsu paid close attention to the way the boy saw Arlo… dark energy all around with empty eyes, no light, no brightness, just destructive, evil looking energy… but Lucy, she was all faded and weak golden light trying to push through.

The weak sound of Lucy's voice came to them _"Wait… Leave them alone…"_

" _Oh now you want to speak to me?"_

" _I do… I really, really do…"_ Natsu felt shivers down his spine, her voice sounded weak and pained and his heart clenched in pain; they saw the man walk closer to Lucy and lean in so much that his energy was touching hers and Natsu could feel his temperature rising _"Tell me… how much is his life worth to you?"_

" _Everything…"_

" _Will you exchange his for the lives of those pitiful children?"_

He saw Lucy turning around to lay on her back and something in the image seemed weird to him; her golden light became a bit brighter making even more obvious the energy she was trying to absorb from him, the red color evident in the image.

" _You… will never… touch any of them"_ That was it, Lucy had grabbed Arlo and pulled him towards her and then the energy that came from her body became a swirl of gold and red starting from one tiny spot in her mid-section and surrounding them; they could hear the screams from the man and see him struggling against her grip until the light became duller and he fell on the floor.

His change was visible even to them, only half his body lit with his dark energy now, the other half emanating some sort of smoke as if the very essence of his magic had been burnt.

" _D-demon… D-demon…"_ They saw Lucy turning back on her side and hugging herself, her breathing harsh and labored… _"I jumped… why didn't…"_ she didn't get to finish; her light started flickering like a candle battling the wind, her breathing was harsher and slower now, almost as if she wasn't trying and a second later Natsu and his friends were in the picture.

"Stop…"

"Natsu…" Mal walked to Natsu with concern, he had seen a bit more than what the spirit wanted him to and was sure he would have many questions; little did he know Natsu was not focusing on that "Look, let me explain…" he turned with a worried look to the rest of the team, some with knowing looks on their faces.

"What do you want to explain? I know exactly what you are going to say…"

"Look, I know this is complicated but if you just listen" Natsu released a sad laugh "Not complicated at all… I know exactly what she was referring to" Mal tilted his head, looked back at Levy, Erza and Laxus who had the same confused expression on their face then back at Natsu "Wait… what are you talking about?"

"She was asking me why I wasn't there"

"Uhm… ok?" the pinkette shook his head "A long time ago, when Luce was taken she jumped from a tower, but she knew I would catch her no matter where I was, and I did, and I had always until yesterday… she was asking why I didn't catch her"

"But you did"

"Almost too late…"

"Either way… you got there in time"

"It's bad isn't it?" he sighed and rubbed his face "She took too much of my magic when she almost died and now that's putting her in danger! I mean you saw what happened! There is no way in hell Lucy would have been able to summon my magic before, her body is not made for that"

Levy walked closer and sat next to him "Am… look Natsu"

"I mean I thought the guy had called ME demon, I had no reason to think he was referring to her!"

"Well she fucking roasted him Salamander… can't expect the guy to call her an angel"

Natsu sighed and shook his head, again wishing he could numb himself back into being an insensitive prick, and still unable to do so; he looked at the kids and knew forcing them to leave would break something inside them, he would let them down just as he'd done to Lucy.

"You can stay… don't get yourself in trouble and if someone bother's you show them who's boss, clear?" the children couldn't help but smile and nod in response and that gave him a bit of comfort; he knew he would eventually break their hearts… but not then and there.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts "What?!" the door opened up slowly reveling Elle who looked a bit shaken but otherwise ok "Sweetheart your attention is needed in the grand hall"

"Why?" Elle gave him an incredulous look "Well, it would be disrespectful to have women fighting over you without you showing up"

"Oh shit… is that today?" she nodded "Ms. Scarlett, you are ready?" everyone in the room turned in shock, Natsu immediately jumped out of bed "Wait, wait, WAIT! Ready for WHAT?!"

"To fight of course"

"EWW, NO, you are not participating!" Jellal took a step forward "I agree this is unwise" even Gray turned a bit green "This is wrong in so many levels"

The red headed woman rolled her eyes, smiled and smiled at Elle "I shall be there shortly" the nymph turned on her heel but before she was out of the room Natsu spoke "How did it feel to see her abandoning everyone to protect herself?" her hand gripped the door tightly, but she didn't turn "Makes you think, doesn't it?" she took a deep breath and left the room without another word.

Once she was gone, Erza slapped the three of them on the back of the head "Are you idiots? Of course I'm not marrying Natsu!"

"Then why are you participating in this bullshit!?"

"Because if it all fails, we have a safety net" Natsu scrunched his nose "Fine… but I'm still not marrying you"

"Are you implying I am not marriage material?"

"Wait what?!"

"Gihi, walked right into that one, didn't you?"

"N-no of course not… but It'd be like marrying my sister" Erza pulled him into a tight embrace, crushing his face against her chest plate "I consider you my sibling as well! I shall fight for your honor!"

"Jeez… stop… can't… breath" she pushed him off but kept holding on to his shoulders, she smiled at him before turning on her heel "Well, let's get this taken care of, shall we?"

They walked through the long aisle before Natsu stopped for a second in front of Lucy's room, he shook his head and sighed before he raised his chin and walked forward; Happy flew himself on Natsu's shoulder and wrapped his tail across his neck, as if trying to comfort him all the way until they walked passed the hall and onto the main entrance that led to the camp site.

As soon as they were out, Gajeel raised his hand and waved, a couple of seconds later, Lily was there in his smaller form; Natsu frowned "Where have you been?"

"Observing… you didn't expect us to live in a dark guild without a little recon, did you?"

"No, I guess not; did you find anything interesting?"

"Maybe…" Natsu smiled and nodded, and soon they were facing the guilds and the rest of his family.

"Ugh… seriously Natsu… yet another dragon slayer, three cats and 5 kids? Are we housing the entirety of your former guild?" Natsu turned to Aporia, a large smile on his face "You will house whoever the fuck I want, I think you are already asking too much of me"

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand "Fine…" Aporia guided them to the back where a set of three decorated chairs was set, the middle one seemed taller than the other two and so Natsu sat in it claiming his place as the leader his eyes wondered to the other end where a less noticeable set of chairs was set.

"What are those for?" Ria smiled to herself "Those of course are for your guests" something wasn't right, he could feel Ria's hidden satisfaction, but he couldn't pinpoint where it came from "Although I'm afraid the cats will have to sit somewhere else"

The team walked towards their seats and once they were settled, they immediately felt their energy being drained out of their bodies "HEY!" Natsu pushed himself of the chair and attempted to run across the field separating them but as soon as he hit the mark, energy cracked and shimmered, sending him flying more than a couple feet back.

"Now, now… calm down, they are fine"

"What the fuck Ria!" she smiled again and knelt next to him "This is a fighting match dearie, your friends are some of the most powerful mages I the lands, it makes sense we would use them to power the grid"

"They are not batteries, you crazy woman! Use a fucking rune wall!"

"I think we both know there's always a way around those… I mean if the determination is strong enough" she gave Natsu a knowing look and turned "This was actually inspired by them"

The Fairy Tail team looked at her confused "When you were training to kill Natsu if needed…" their eyes widen in shock "They were planning on using a similar rune grid, to use their magic and yours to hold you down"

Natsu waved his hand at them, in an attempt to remove their concerns "And they would have been right… I could have lost control"

"Anyways… since your pretty red headed friend is participating, we thought we would remove the temptation of helping if she got in trouble"

Natsu turned from his friends to Ria, the smug smile on her face lasted all the way until the sharp end of Erza's sword nicked her neck "I'm not the one who will be needing help, I can assure you that"

The pinkette pulled himself together. Stood up and patted his clothes "I wouldn't dare to help Erza, she would get really mad about me underestimating her abilities"

The guild leader stood up and cleared his throat asking for silence "As you all know, some of our best and more fearless warriors have signed up to participate in this challenge, their strength is only matched by their beauty and we are sure any of them will be a perfect candidate to rule along the demon lord!" the people erupted in cheers and whistles, already excited about the games to come.

"There will be very few rules in these combats, all magic goes, every ability counts… here's how our combats will be defined"

He pointed out to the cube that was now being energized by Natsu's friends, and started drawing on it with a magic pen "We'll begin with 6 groups of 3 competitors giving us a grand total of 18 women, 3 combats this evening, and 3 tomorrow during the morning… now for each combat 2 competitors will be chosen to pass to the next round, any and all competitors can surrender at any point of the fight"

He turned around to make sure everyone was following before proceeding "Tomorrow, during the afternoon, we will sort the 6 remaining women from the prior day in pairs, only one from each combat will pass to the next round, then during the evening we will do the same with the following group leaving us with a total of 6 competitors"

Everyone nodded seeming to understand the logistics, but Natsu seemed to be getting a headache from it "On the last and third day of combat, the first group of three will fight, then the second during the afternoon, we will chose our 3 favorite warriors from that, finally during the evening we'll have the last fight, where the final three remaining victors will fight until one of them remains"

Natsu frowned, this was happening a bit too fast for him and he suddenly realized if he didn't come up with something clever, he would end up getting married in three more days _'I don't want to do this… there's only one woman I had ever given a ring to…'_

* * *

Lucy was sleeping calmly on her bed while Leo brushed his fingers through her hair and spoke to her "Why do you always get in so much trouble uhm? Seriously… one of these days you are going to take each and every one of us to out grave"

He looked up and frowned "Well we're spirits but you know what I mean…" Loke noticed her stirring a bit, a deep frown on her face, her lips no longer in a smile but a thin line.

"Lucy?" she grunted and turned, a few drops of sweat dripping from her forehead "Ugh…" he worried and knelt next to the bed "Shh… it's ok princess, I'm not going anywhere"

"Natsu…" He was happy to hear her voice, but that didn't take his concern away; he liked the dragon slayer despite it all, he was family… and he knew it was not completely his fault that his master was going through this, but a part of him was pissed off either way.

"You should have kept your distance from him… maybe then we wouldn't be here, uhm?" he smiled and reached out to touch her forehead, and as soon as he did he pushed himself from the bed and onto the floor, hissing from pain "What the…"

He looked at his hand where a deep burn was now shining red on his skin; Loke knew going back to the celestial realm would fix it, but he was concerned about leaving her again, it seemed the rest of the zodiac was too, because in a couple of seconds Virgo appeared next to him.

"I'll stay with the princess"

"You can't stay for too long with your own energy"

"Then I may suggest for you to hurry up and come back" he sighed and did as he was told, Virgo got closer to her mistress and looked through her inexpressive face "You gave us a big scare princess, you must really love Master Natsu"

Virgo pulled a bracelet from her pocket, a golden bracelet with all the zodiac symbols and a bright star in the middle made by thick lines and then hollow, leaving an empty star shaped whole in its center.

Loke came back and shook his head "It won't go away" Virgo tilted her head and looked towards his hand; the burn was still there "That's not possible"

"You should go back… we'll figure it out" she pulled some fabric from her pocket and wrapped his hand on it "Be careful" that's all she said before disappearing into thin air.

* * *

The names had been sorted, Natsu didn't care who was who or what they looked like although he recognized they look strong, he was confident they would be no trouble for Erza.

He was obsessively biting the inside of his cheek when he noticed Cai Looking to the distance and smiling, which was odd considering the kid could see close to nothing; he saw the kid's eyes moving closer and closer to him until he felt it… her energy wrapped around him making him gasp for a second, it was almost as if she was there next to him, except she really wasn't.

For a second, he saw the faintest golden energy emanate from his fingers, slowly reaching to the grid and making one tiny spot flicker before returning back to normal; he frowned trying to make sense of everything when he felt as if her lips touched his forehead and for a moment he thought tears would fall from his eyes… but he knew he couldn't afford to.

Natsu tried hard to hold on to her energy but it faded as soon as it came, leaving him with a sense of loneliness and loss; he looked up again to look at Cai who was still smiling at his adoptive father.

The dragon slayer stared at the boy in awe… had his unique magic allow him to know what had really happened? Was he simply imagining something that wasn't really there to sooth his soul?… he looked down and brushed his face and Elle immediately pressed her hand to his shoulder.

"Are you ok sweetheart?" He looked at her and then back at Cai "I…" his mind kept running away from him… had she really been there? The smile on the face of the boy with the faded eyes grew bigger, he nodded so slightly that it was almost imperceptible and then turned again to his brothers and sisters as if nothing had happened.

"I think I am… I'm ok"


End file.
